Abstract

This presentation reports on findings regarding prisoner perceptions on the reasons for violence within a prison setting, as well as the links found in the data between New Psychoactive Substance (NPS) use, violence, and impulsivity. This presentation focused on the reasons for violence within this setting as expressed by a sample of 158 prisoners in one adult male category C prison in West Yorkshire. Participants completed a self-reported questionnaire which asked about their perceptions of violence in the prison using Likert scales for rating the extent of violence they perceived, the extent they felt the violence was due to NPS and if this was due to behavioural changes or social circumstances, and a qualitative box for other reasons for the causes of violence. Results suggested that over 70% of the violence was due to NPS and that this was mainly due to the social circumstances surrounding this, such as debt and bullying. Qualitative comments elucidate how issues in the prison climate are contributing to violence. The Power Threat Meaning Framework was applied to help understand violence related to NPS use.