A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators,
prison officers
A prison officer (PO) or corrections officer (CO), also known as a correctional law enforcement officer or less formally as a prison guard, is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation ...
, or other groups of prisoners.
Academic studies of prison riots emphasize a connection between prison conditions (such as
prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in a prison exceeds the capacity for Prisoner, prisoners.
By country
Egypt
Amnesty International reported on 25 January 2021 the abuse of prisoners in Egypt not onl ...
) and riots, or discuss the dynamics of the modern prison riot. In addition, a large proportion of academic studies concentrate on specific cases of prison riots. Other recent research analyzes and examines
prison strike A prison strike is an inmate strike or work stoppage that occurs inside a prison, generally to protest poor conditions or low wages for penal labor. Prison strikes may also include hunger strikes.
United States
In September 2016, large, coordin ...
s and reports of contention with inmate workers.
Prison conditions
In the late 20th century, the analyses and conclusions presented to account for prison disturbances and riots began to shift and change based upon new studies and research. Initially, prison riots were considered irrational actions on the behalf of the prisoners. Nevertheless, there has been a shift in the form of explanation as external conditions like overcrowding are promoted by authorities as possible sources of causation.
[Ellis, D. (1984). Crowding and prison violence: Integration of research and theory. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 11 (3). 277–308.]
List of notable prison riots
The list does not include
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...
s.
Gulag uprisings
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Norilsk uprising
The Norilsk uprising was a major strike by Gulag inmates in Gorlag, a MVD special camp for political prisoners, and later in the two camps of Norillag TL Norilsk, USSR, now Russia, in the summer of 1953, shortly after Joseph Stalin's death. A ...
, May 1953 – strike
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Vorkuta uprising
The Vorkuta Uprising was a major uprising of forced labor camp inmates at the Rechlag Gulag special labor camp in Vorkuta, Russian SFSR, USSR from 19 July (or 22 July) to 1 August 1953, shortly after the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria on 26 June 19 ...
, July 1953 – 66 killed
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Kengir uprising
The Kengir uprising was a prisoner rebellion that occurred in Kengir ( Steplag), a Soviet MVD special camp for political prisoners, during May and June 1954. Its duration and intensity distinguished it from other Gulag rebellions during the same ...
, May 1954 – 37 killed (official Soviet figure), 500–700 killed (prisoner provided figure)
See also
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Prison escape
A prison escape (also referred to as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, jail escape or prison break) is the act of an Prisoner, inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part o ...
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Walpole prison strike
Following a March 1973 prison officer strike, the inmates of Walpole state prison, a high-security facility outside Boston, ran the prison under watch of citizen observers for two months during a policy impasse with the prison officers' union ...
Notes
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