Violence can take many forms and can produce life-threatening outcomes. Utilitarian violence, used to enforce a particular code, sometimes requires extreme violence to enhance the utility of the act. Just as utilitarian violence between street gangs has the tendency to escalate with each tit for tat, the goal of utilitarian violence in the incarcerated environment is to discourage retaliation in the immediate situation and deter future transgressions from the target and among those observing. The more violent, unpredictable, and shocking; the greater the utility of the aggression.