A typology of the causes of prison riots and an analytical extension to the 1986 West Virginia riot

Abstract

This article examines the literature on prison riots and integrates many of the prior conceptualizations of their causes by advancing a typology of explanatory models. This typology classifies prior explanations for riots into six subcategories: environmental conditions, spontaneity, conflict, collective behavior/social control, power vacuum, and rising expectations. Next we examine the 1986 riot at the West Virginia State Penitentiary, using an integrated conceptual structure that draws on several of these subcategories. Finally, we examine the utility of the typology by comparing the West Virginia riot with those which occurred at Attica and Santa Fe. The analysis makes clear that none of the individual models in the typology provides an adequate single explanation for these riots. Indeed, meaningful explanations about prison riots seem to require elements from most of the models in the typology. This finding suggests the need for more integrative approaches in the study of prison riots.