Violence in prison systems across the world stem from a multitude of problems and there is not a “magic bullet” to fix it either. It is not as if prison violence is a recent phenomenon, violence in prisons can probably be traced back to the earliest known prison systems in recorded civilization. Technology has advanced leaps and bounds in the last decade alone as well as the last century. With all of this new found technology at governments and prison systems disposal, it should make controlling prison populations easier but that has not always proven to be the case.

Technology has had a huge influence on ever day life within the last twenty years. From the launch of the Internet to the smart phone, technology has permeated itself into everyday life. It is no surprise that technology has lent itself handy to prison systems for monitoring inmates. Closed Circuit Television, or CCTV, has only improved since its introduction and has made monitoring prisons easier by providing clearer images with high definition cameras and monitors.

This has made spotting potential problems before they escalate into riots or untimely deaths. Another way technology is being used in prisons to make them safer is prisons are the testing grounds for new TSA body scanners. Graterford State Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania was one such testing ground. (Bulman, n.d.) The new body scanners can scan through clothing to detect weapons, cellphones and nonmetallic objects. This type of technology is invaluable for prisons due to an overwhelmingly large deficiency in inmates getting ahold of outside objects. Another way technology is being used to control inmate violence is tracking devices on inmates to know where each inmate is at all times. This is useful for knowing when an inmate is in a trouble area or is somewhere in the prison where they can potentially start a problem.

Another way to quell prison violence is to have officials in charge of the prison systems make better legislative decisions. Outside policy makers such as judges and prosecutors influence where inmates go to serve their sentence and whether or not certain felons go to prison at all. (Khadjavi, 2013) That type of power can have a huge impact on prison violence. A low offense felon who is mixed in general population can be among inmates in prison for murder, rape and other such deadly offenses. That can lead to potential violence due to the differences in the nature of the charges. A more direct influence on prison violence inside the prisons are the correction officers. Sometimes correction officers are either over worked, under staffed or under trained. Individually those situations are harmful but combined they can lead to a lack of security within the prison walls. That is something inmates will notice and take advantage of if trying to escape or carry out an agenda.