Prison crowding research: The relevance for prison housing standards and a general approach regarding crowding phenomena.

Summarizes the results of a research program on the effects of crowding in prisons and jails. The relationship of crowding to rates of suicides, violent and nonviolent deaths, psychiatric commitments, inmate-on-inmate assaults, disciplinary infractions, and attempted suicides and self-mutilations as evidenced in archival records of 175,000+ inmates from 4 state prison systems were examined. Field research in prisons and jails yielded data on 2,500+ individual inmates, including illness complaints, blood pressure, perceived crowding, and housing evaluations. The impact of space and social density are discussed, focusing on the various housing arrangements available in prisons. Findings show that, in general, crowding in prisons was related to increased pathology. Theoretical considerations of the effects of crowding are discussed in terms of a social interaction demand model that incorporates uncertainty, goal interference, and cognitive load. Implications of the model and outcomes of a crowded situation are addressed. It is concluded that the primary causes of negative effects related to crowding are due to cognitive strain, anxiety or fear, and frustration intrinsic to most social interactions in crowded settings. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)