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The State of U.S. Prisons

By Joseph Lawler on 6.23.11 @ 12:59PM

Lovisa Stannow's Reason magazine piece on "Rape Factories" is a eye-opening look at both the scope and the nature of sexual abuse in prisons [emphasis added]:

The U.S. Department of Justice recently released its first-ever estimate of the number of inmates who are sexually abused in America each year. According to the department's data, which are based on nationwide surveys of prison and jail inmates as well as young people in juvenile detention centers, at least 216,600 inmates were victimized in 2008 alone. Contrary to popular belief, most of the perpetrators were not other prisoners but staff members-corrections officials whose job it is to keep inmates safe. On average, each victim was abused between three and five times over the course of the year. The vast majority were too fearful of reprisals to seek help or file a formal complaint.

...

But many corrections administrators are reluctant to make sexual abuse prevention a top priority, preferring to maintain the status quo rather than acknowledge the role their own employees play. Others are actually fighting reform efforts, claiming, in spite of the evidence, that sexual violence is rare.

View all comments (5) | Leave a comment

john dunn| 6.23.11 @ 3:13PM

the research referenced is not reliable, in fact, by definition, the evidence is bogus--self reporting is the worst form of evidence--and is the reason the naive can be led to believe such nonsense as the jailors did it.

the reason people think there are too many people in prison and the prisoner advocates think that prisoners suffer mostly from mental health disorders and are victimized by the jailors. and of course inmates in prison are reliable and upstanding members of society.

I have been in corrections medicine for 20 years, Mr. Lawler and you need to check your compass. the Reason report is nothing more than checking with the most unreliable source of information to see if it confirms your suspicions.

Occam's Tool| 6.23.11 @ 5:45PM

I agree, John, as a former prison psychiatrist. The funny thing is that the ACLU plays this both ways---first, that these "poor" prisoners are mentally ill and should be coddled, then second, that there should be no element of coercion in treatment when thay are violent AND mentally ill. The ACLU are Vermin. Subhuman scum.

lydia| 6.24.11 @ 8:58AM

Maybe the DOJ should send in an undercover operative to experience the loving treatment they receive from their fellow inmates. Me thinks their estimates might change a bit.
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Flee| 6.23.11 @ 3:47PM

I suspect and JD above that a not so hidden agenda is at work in any piece from Reason. Prisoners as victims? Where have we heard this before? I think it makes Hollywood directors get all excited about their next prison flick but is far removed from reality. Reason wants reasonable people to believe the most serious threat to the wellbeing of prisoners comes from the staff? The DOJ produced "estimates" that are the basis of the rape factory claim? Now there is a reliable source for you. The DOJ as it stands today has about as much credibility as local judge in a speed trap in anytown USA. Maybe the DOJ should send in an undercover operative to experience the loving treatment they receive from their fellow inmates. Me thinks their estimates might change a bit.

bob feland| 6.23.11 @ 3:48PM

I work in a prison-those statistics are total garbage in ours. Staff face felony prosecution for even so called "consenual sex!" Inmate on inmate, it happens. Staff, no way!