make a persuasive argument supporting either the deprivation argument (that the prison environment itself creates violent individuals) or the importation argument (that violence in prison is the result of the individuals sent to prison).

Look at your Week Seven Resource titled “Gladiator Days: Anatomy of a Prison Murder.” Also look up National Geographic and view some of the prison related videos on inmate behavior (see, for example, prison nation on National Geographic at http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/prison-nation/). The videos, and some readings, demonstrate several key issues regarding imprisonment, and more specifically, inmate control. Broadly, the films portray prison as a place where one must either become a “viking or a victim.” The films also brings up the question of whether prison institutions create and breed violent individuals, or rather, the individuals are violent to begin with and simply act accordingly when they enter the prison setting. In your book, this perspective is often examined by using the competing concepts of: 1) deprivation (that the prison and its regime and its deprivations create violence/disorder by inmates), or 2) Importation (that it is not the prison environment or regime, but the inmates that are simply importing their violent behavior into the prison setting and acting as they always have).

Based on the concepts of deprivation or importation as explanations of inmate behavior in prison, your reading, Module notes, and the films, make a persuasive argument supporting either the deprivation argument (that the prison environment itself creates violent individuals) or the importation argument (that violence in prison is the result of the individuals sent to prison).

At the end, give your perspective on the power of institutional environments (such as prisons) to influence human behavior.

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