Fear of rape from behind prison walls

• Pages: 68-80
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-07-2016-0032
• Published date: 12 June 2017
• Date: 12 June 2017
• Author: Lauren O’Neill Shermer,Heather Sudo
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Prisoner health,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice

Fear of rape from behind prison walls

Lauren O’Neill Shermer and Heather Sudo

Abstract

Purpose –The Prison Rape Elimination Act has brought significant attention to the issue of sexual

victimization within correctional institutions. While the actual risk of sexual victimization remains low,

the perception of rape among inmates is high. Given how one’s fear can translate into behavior,

understanding how institutions impact the culture surrounding prison rape highlights areas for reducing

violence within prisons. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach –This study includes secondary analysis of a quantitative database

created from semi-structured interviews with 564 high security, general population inmates. Using fear of

rape as the outcome of interest, bivariate and logistic regression analyses are used to comment on the

impact of individual and facility level characteristics on this outcome.

Findings –In general, the results from this study suggest that the greatest risk factors for fearing rape while in

prison are being male, having a mental health issue, and hearing about rape within the institution. From these

specific findings a few general lessons can be learned with the hope that practitioners can translate these

lessons into policy initiatives in order to combat fear of rape among our inmate population.

Originality/value –This paper aims to fill a gap in the research on how the facility contributes to the fear of

rape within prison. The end goal is to inform policy makers so that suggestions can be made to combat this

problem and prevent further misconduct within these facilities.

Keywords Mental health, Prisons, Misconduct, Prison staff, Fear, Rape

Paper type Research paper

Prison rape has been referredto by many as “America’smost‘opensecret’” (Nolan and Telford,

2006, p. 129). A report by the Human Rights Watch found that an estimated 125,000-600,000

prisoners are being raped each year in the USA (Nolan and Telford, 2006) and the Bureau of

Justice Statistics reports that about 10 percent of former state prisoners claim “one or more

incidents of sexual victimization during the most recent period of incarceration in jail, prison, and

post-releasecommunity-treatment facility”(Beck and Johnson, 2012, p. 5). The most recentdata

collected in response to the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) confirms that the number of

allegations of sexualvictimization is on the rise and about 10 percentof allegations were found to

be substantiated (Beck, 2015). Although considerably lower than the over two million inmates in

custody, these arealarming statistics. Additionally, it seems that an individual’s perce ption of this

risk is even higher than the actual risk. This is worthy of attention because many react to their

perception of beingharmed rather than the actual risk of it. Havingan institution with a high fear of

rape can have negative consequences for the safety and security of the prison. While much

research has been completed on the prevalence of prison rape, there is little available on how an

inmate’s perception of the institution can affect their fear of rape. Given that research has found

that perceptionsof reality might be more relevant to humanbehavior than reality itself (Nagin1998;

Ferraro, 1995), it becomes paramount to investigate how these perceptions develop.

An inmate’s fear of rape can manifest in two very different expressions. First, the reaction to the

fear could cause an inmate to become more dangerous in order to protect themselves.

An inmate who believes that the only way not to become a victim is to be an aggressor may

become more violent, which can have a direct effect on the amount of misconduct within the

prison. This negative behavior not only has consequences for other inmates, but for the

correctional officers as well. Alternatively, inmates who develop fear of rape may alter their

behavior as a reaction to their fear. These individuals can become isolated, withdrawn, and could

become paranoid by the perception that they will be the next victim. By isolating themselves from

Received 21 July 2016

Revised 11 October 2016

12 December 2016

Accepted 12 December 2016

The authors would like to thank all

of the anonymous reviewers of this

manuscript for their comments.

Additionally, the authors would like

to thank Suzanne Mannes, PhD for

her detailed suggestions on a

previous version of this

manuscript.

Lauren O’Neill Shermer is the

Chair and an Associate

Professor at the Department of

Criminal Justice, Widener

University, Chester,

Pennsylvania, USA.

Heather Sudo is a Legal

Assistant at the Fidelity

National Title, Department of

Criminal Justice, Widener

University, Chester,

Pennsylvania, USA.

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VOL. 13 NO. 2 2017, pp. 68-80, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200 DOI 10.1108/IJPH-07-2016-0032