1. Evaluation of importation model of institutional aggression

2. Strengths  Less simplistic that deprivation model; theory is a detailed explanation that acknowledges individual differences in causes of institutional aggression - doesn’t view inmates as solely influenced by one set of common values but looks at subcultures within institutions (in contrast with deprivation model) which only considers situational and socio-environmental factors

3. Strengths  DeLisi et al (2004) – studied prison records of 831 male inmates in USA and found small, but significant correlation between gang membership and prison aggression, suggesting sub-cultural values were imported into prison by gang members. Suggesting dispositional model is valid at explaining institutional aggression.  A02 of this study?

4. Weaknesses  Theory has little practical application to reduce aggression in institutions – fails to provide suggestions as how to manage aggressive prisoners or suggest policies for reducing prison violence in general

5. Strength   BUT: real life examples of institutional aggression support it. For example, institutions such as the police and military services have previously been in the news because of cases of IA used by the Met during G8 summit demonstrations and abuse of prisoners by American and British soldiers in Iraq. In both scenarios the institution has tried to distance itself from abuse, claiming it was down to a few violent individuals. Indeed, in the case of the Abu Ghraib abuse, American General Myers said this horrific behaviour was due to a ‘few bad apples’, suggesting that the dispositional model is correct in stating that individuals themselves cause aggression in institutions. This suggests that the model has practical applications to add validity and credibility to the theory.

6. Weaknesses  Over simplistic - Alternative approaches – acknowledge the role of situational factors in determining aggression (e.g. Deprivation model) rather than simply focussing on personality of individual (and blaming them for aggression)  Although looks at individual differences/subcultures, fails to acknowledge role of biological mechanisms in aggression (e.g...)

7. Weaknesses  Gender (alpha) bias – theory and research focuses mostly on aggression by males towards males in prisons and therefore there is little research on IA in females, although we know that aggression does occur in female prisons. Perhaps difficult to generalise these results towards women as other theories (Bandura) suggest females may differ in type of aggression displayed