The 'Screw Boys' and the 'Businessmen': Re-Negotiating Penal Power, Governance and Legitimate Authority Through a Prison Violence Reduction Scheme.

This article examines the dynamics of authority and governance within an English Category B Local prison, focusing on a Violence Reduction Representative (VR Rep) scheme that empowered selected prisoners to mediate conflicts and reduce violence. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative research, it finds that while VR Reps held a form of legitimate authority recognized by staff, their influence was limited among prisoners and often coexisted with illegitimate prisoner governance by criminal "Businessmen" who controlled illicit economies through fear and intimidation. The study argues that prisoner governance cannot substitute for the legitimate, skilled, and confident exercise of authority by prison officers, as the abdication of staff power contributed to increased violence, disorder, and the flourishing of organized crime. Ultimately, the article highlights the necessity of effective State governance to restore moral and social order in prisons, cautioning against overreliance on peer-led schemes without adequate staff engagement.