'Behind Bars and Beyond Boundaries': Prison Violence and the Normalisation of Harm

Bushell, Ashley ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5967-2069 (2026) 'Behind Bars and Beyond Boundaries': Prison Violence and the Normalisation of Harm. In: British Society of Criminology Conference 2026, From: Tuesday 7 July 2026, 9 am To: Friday 10 July 2026, 6 pm, Nottingham. (Submitted)

Abstract

This paper reflects on the challenges of prison violence within England and Wales. Violence remains a pervasive feature of prisons across the jurisdiction of England and Wales. Beyond its frequency, this research highlights how violence becomes normalised within carceral environments. Embedded in institutional routines, staff practice and prisoner interactions. The normalisation raises profound concerns for Human Rights, Safety at Work, Rehabilitation and the broader aims of penal reform. Demanding closer scrutiny of how violence is produced, justified and sustained within prison cultures.

This paper addresses the critical question: How is violence normalised within prison environments and what are the implications? Drawing upon empirical evidence, qualitative interviews and ethnographic observations. The study examines the everyday mechanisms through which violence is rendered as routine. Ethical approval was gained through university governance, HMPPS and the private sector prisons, with a particular attention to safeguarding participants and managing the constraints of researching within coercive environments.

Findings demonstrate that violence becomes normalised through institutional language and practices. Often reframing harm as ‘incident management’, through policies that prioritise control over care and through staff adaption strategies that desensitise or depersonalise traumatic events. Staff training, organisational pressures, and cultural expectations further reinforce these patterns, while prisoners often internalise violence as an inevitable aspect of survival.

This research challenges dominant narratives that portray prisons, as controlled and orderly spaces, instead revealing the embedded nature of violence within institutional life. It argues for reforms grounded in trauma-informed approaches, cultural change, and ethical accountability. The findings hold critical relevance for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars seeking to reimagine a safer and more humane carceral environments.

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