| The quality of confinement in Venezuela's prisons ranks among the lowest in the hemisphere, and a salient dimension of this critical situation is violence. Whereas prior studies of Venezuelan prisons have focused mainly on violence between prisoners, this paper examines the use of force by prison guards. A near-complete sample of 40 prison guards in a Venezuelan prison were interviewed in extenso regarding their "tactical rules" for the use of force against prisoners. The results reveal that use of force by prison guards represents an important ingredient in the creation of a climate of violence within the institution. Tactical rules for the use of force are compared for prison guards and Venezuelahn police officers (the subject of an earlier study), and some conclusions are offered regarding the determinants of the use of force among public security personnel in the country. |
Updated 05/20/2006