Prevencija nasilja u zatvorima: restorativni pristup

“Getting tough on crime” policies often result in increased number of inmates, which, in the situation of insufficient prison capacity leads to the problem of overcrowding. Overcrowding is considered one of the risk factors for the development of conflict and violent behavior as a way of resolving these conflicts. Due to the overcrowding that exists in the Croatian penal system, a survey was conducted to determine the incidence and structure of violent behavior, determining the predictive characteristics, analyzes the existing mechanisms of prevention of violence and proposing improvements for prevention of violence in the penal system. Included are various forms and directions of violence: “prisoner to prisoner” violence (experience of victimization and victimizing other prisoners), “prisoner to staff” violence and use of force against prisoners. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied. Sample comprised of 353 prisoners, 154 of warders and 193 employees of other departments. After getting results of quantitative research, focus groups or structured interviews (on the results) were conducted with prisoners and prison staff. This paper brings general descriptive data and discuss the possibilities of preventing violence in the penal system using programs based on the principles of restorative justice.