British Journal of Criminology Advance Access originally published online on July 27, 2008
British Journal of Criminology 2008 48(6):856-873; doi:10.1093/bjc/azn053
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The British Journal of Criminology 48:856-873 (2008)
© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD). All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
What are you Looking at?
Prisoner Confrontations and the Search for Respect
* National Crime Council, 4-5 Harcourt Road, Dublin 7, Ireland; michelle.butler{at}gmail.com.
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This article examines the occurrence of fights, assaults, arguments and threats of violence between adult male prisoners in an English category C prison. The self-narratives of 40 men are analysed to investigate whether some prisoners engage in more confrontations than others due to a psychological need to protect their identity. The findings indicate that how an individual understands and constructs their self-narrative can influence their involvement in aggressive behaviour. Implications for interventions attempting to reduce aggression are explored.