Modern Prison and the Dark Economy: Drugs, Debt, Death and Violence in a Failing System - Paperback

by Darren Meacham (Author)

A prison, as an institution, with its intense physical environment and its embedded culture, is often quoted as one of the principal causes of its violence. Ethnographic and interview-based studies of prison life are quite common, but few have revolved around debt. More specifically almost no research has questioned ex-offenders about links between debt and the levels of prison violence we see today. There have also been very few studies on violence and a drug in prison and particularly on the latter's links to debt.This dissertation provides an observational post-prison review on this topic and looks at the culture of debt, the part it plays in prison violence and the impact that drugs have in that environment, all looked at through the eyes of the recently released ex-offenders. A qualitative research method was used based on a purposive sample of 12 recently released offenders in South Wales. Interviewed through semi-structured questionnaires, content analysis was implemented to quantify some elements of the qualitative data. The following themes were identified and analysed: An insight into how debt is caused in the prison setting; how drugs play a part in this; and how the violence results.The author also identifies and assesses a number of possible solutions to the problem and hopes this study will provide a basis for further research on this issue.