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The Problem of Prison Rape

By TChris, Section Inmates and Prisons
Posted on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 07:47:37 AM EST
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by TChris

Some people think that prisoners deserve any evil that befalls them during incarceration. Some don't think about prisoners at all -- out of sight, out of mind. But prison violence should concern everyone, because most prisoners will eventually be released, and years of victimization can destroy an inmate's ability to begin a law-abiding, productive life. Worse, it can turn a casual criminal into a vicious predator. That's why society should pay attention to prison rape.

"It's a real and serious problem," said Malcolm Feeley, professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley. "It may be the single largest shame of the American criminal justice system, and that's saying a lot."

The problem of prison rape is exacerbated by laws that treat juvenile offenders as adults, setting up vulnerable young men as prey for violent inmates.

The commission is warning Congress of the consequences of putting juveniles in adult prison, [Prof. Cindy] Struckman-Johnson said.

"When you put kids under 18 in prison with adults, the incidence of rape and abuse is five times higher," she said.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 requires an annual accounting of sexual assaults within prisons, but the numbers don't tell the whole story.

There may be far more sexual violence in prisons than is reported, the study's authors said, because inmates fear reprisal, adhere to a code of silence, do not trust the staff or are embarrassed. ...

"What gets reported is the tip of the iceberg," said Cindy Struckman-Johnson, professor of social psychology at the University of South Dakota and a member of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission.

Struckman-Johnson said her studies found 10 percent of male Midwestern state penitentiary inmates have been raped.

Sexual misconduct in prison isn't just committed by inmates. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, "38 percent of allegations involved staff sexual misconduct" and "17 percent involved staff sexual harassment."

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    • The Problem of Prison Rape | 29 comments (29 topical)
    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#1)
    by jen on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 08:27:10 AM EST
    Whatever happened to values? Don't we do things because of our values anymore? Don't we keep people from being raped because rape is wrong?

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#2)
    by cpinva on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 08:50:05 AM EST
    Whatever happened to values? Don't we do things because of our values anymore? Don't we keep people from being raped because rape is wrong?
    jen, unless it has to do with preventing same-gender marriage, minors access to abortion facilities and flag burning, than the people don't care. those would seem to be the only "values" considered important enough, by the majority party, to concern themselves with these past 6 years. in fairness, this lack of concern transcends party boundaries, and always has. once we decide to lock someone up (which we do at a much higher rate than most of the rest of the civilized world), we just don't care about them anymore. for all intents and purposes, except for their immediate families, they cease to exist. this goes to the heart of the dichotomy of our penal system: is it for rehabilitation, or solely punishment? until we finally make that decision, we all suffer. apparently, the approx. 70% recidivism rate doesn't bother us enough to determine why it's so high. we just lock 'em up again and again and again. eventually, they either get locked up for life, or die. problem solved.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#3)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 09:04:37 AM EST
    If we don't care to do squat about prison murder, (an additional life sentence has no real meaning) then what do you expect for rape?

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#4)
    by JSN on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 09:09:54 AM EST
    Retribution is very popular in Iowa. Legislation making new crimes, enhancing penalties for existing crimes and restricting eligibility for parole pass with large bipartisan majorities and are quickly signed by the Governor. Crime victims and persons who have a high vulnerability to criminal behavior and persons who live in neighborhoods with high crime rates are strong supporters of harsh penalties. If they are aware of the problem of prison rape it does not appear to bother them. The more vindictive ones may think it is a good thing. On the other hand if you asked them if they think retribution is more important than education almost all would say no. What they don't know is that the increased costs of incarceration caused by increased retribution has been funded by shifting funds from education and health and human services to corrections.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#6)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 10:13:13 AM EST
    "Retribution is very popular in Iowa." "What they don't know is that the increased costs of incarceration caused by increased retribution has been funded by shifting funds from education and health and human services to corrections." Can you provide some context, as in how much Iowa spends on education and health and human services versus how much on corrections?

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 10:16:06 AM EST
    Here's another problem stemming from prison rape.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 10:36:45 AM EST
    Tchris' comment:
    ...because most prisoners will eventually be released, and years of victimization can destroy an inmate's ability to begin a law-abiding, productive life. Worse, it can turn a casual criminal into a vicious predator.
    Narius' response:
    Don't have to be. 3 Strike laws can keep the really bad ones in prison for life.
    Congratulations!!!! You have once again completely missed the point of yet another TalkLeft post. Your response to Tchris' comment makes absolutely no sense.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 10:44:34 AM EST
    One of the liberal pitches is that, lately, our over-use of war to solve foreign issues tends to create terrorists. Could the same be said for the violence associated with prisons? Are we reinforcing felonious behavior by placing convicted people in violent situations, which can only lead to further violence? Does placing someone in a situation where it is likely they will secure a life-threating addition to their lives, be it an artillery attack killing their loved ones or a rape with HIV, constitute cruel and unusual punishment?

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 10:57:29 AM EST
    "Why should incarcerated felons be allowed to have sex? Aren't they in prison specifically so we can punish them by depriving them of the pleasures and privileges that we law-abiding citizens enjoy?" "If you're not willing to work to stop prison rape, you're in favor of coddling violent felons by allowing them to have sex." That's how you phrase an argument against prison rape.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#12)
    by JSN on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 11:40:18 AM EST
    Iowa general fund appropriations for primary & secondary education were about $2 billion ($4,055/pupil) and the appropriation for prisons about $200 million ($23,360/inmate). The prison expenditures increased by about 40% in constant dollars and the education funding feel slightly in constant dollars. I don't have the figures in hand for HHS but if you are going to shift the amount of funds needed for corrections in the Iowa general fund they have to come from education and HHS everything else is too small.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#14)
    by James DiBenedetto on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 12:03:58 PM EST
    It would certainly help if, at a minimum, actual, you know, elected officials of both parties would stop joking about prison rape (better still if we could stop seeing jokes about it in popular culture, but I despair of that happening).

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 12:04:42 PM EST
    Absolustely. We just have to only let them beat each other up. That's right, narius -- every inmate in prison is exactly as strong as every other inmate, and therefore every inmate in prison gets raped in turn. It certainly isn't the case that there are stronger inmates who get to choose which of the weaker inmates he gets to rape and who never get raped themselves. But then again, that's exactly the sort of rationalization I'd expect to hear from someone who's in favor of allowing violent felons to have sex. I'm sorry, did I just type "exactly"? I meant to type "absolustely".

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#16)
    by Sailor on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 12:47:18 PM EST
    Criminal lovers will view nothing short of a full SPA as "cruel" punishment.
    Please provide links.
    And how can getting beat-up in prison be "unusal" when there are so many violent felons locked up in a small place?
    Actually, most are non-violent offenders, and remember the guys in the uniforms? Their job is to stop things like that from happening. If they can't/won't do their jobs then they should be fired or locked up in there themselves.
    Absolustely. We just have to only let them beat each other up.
    rape is the ultimate form of beating others up. I've always thought that the institutionalized violence and rape amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#17)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 12:47:21 PM EST
    "Iowa general fund appropriations for primary & secondary education were about $2 billion ($4,055/pupil) and the appropriation for prisons about $200 million ($23,360/inmate)" Then there is health and human services on top of that. In addition localities spend for education, but none for prisons. Is not total education spending in Iowa in the $8k range? The one number I found on the web indicated that Iowa state budgets about 5% to corrections. That hardly seems excessive.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 12:47:34 PM EST
    It certainly isn't the case that there are stronger inmates who get to choose which of the weaker inmates he gets to rape and who never get raped themselves. And in the course of making fun of narius's typo, I make a glaring grammatical error. I guess that's why the Preview button is there and why one should stick to the substantive details of the argument at hand. If one doesn't, one makes an ass of oneself. Okay, flame away -- I have it coming (seriously).

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#19)
    by JSN on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:05:09 PM EST
    Iowa used to spend 3.5% of the general fund on corrections now it is 5.6%. This was accomplished at the same time that taxes were cut and the general fund reduced in constant dollars. What people are objecting to that corrections got a bigger slice of a smaller pie at the expense of education and HHS. In other words they want more retribution but they don't want to pay for it.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#20)
    by Johnny on Tue Aug 01, 2006 at 04:22:37 AM EST
    20. If there were videocameras all over prisons and prison rapists got an additional 20 years, the problem would be solved. Leave a Comment
    Much the same argument could be made for speeding, running redlights, jaywalking, not washing your hands after peeing etc etc. The question is: should we rely on cameras to do the work fo deterring crime? Should we NOT expect prison guards to prevent prison rape? Should we resign ourselves to the "fact" that surveillance is the only way to achieve the desired goal?

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Aug 01, 2006 at 01:54:49 PM EST
    Proactive screws have fun. The Keith Report is expected to rule on allegations that prison officers set up Gladiator-style fights by placing vulnerable inmates in cells with racist prisoners. The practice, also known as "Colosseum", was described to the inquiry by assistant general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association (POA) Duncan Keys.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#22)
    by JSN on Tue Aug 01, 2006 at 05:04:57 PM EST
    The article posted is based on Bureau of Justice Statistics first report on a Federal prison & jail rape prevention initiative. It appears that most prison systems cooperated in the study but as the study notes the problem is under reported. Very few jails participated and it probably will take a long time to build up the number of jails that report. The Iowa Dept. of Corrections has posted several pertinent items with respect to the rape prevention initiative but provided no data although they provided data for the BJS 2004 report. I will try to get them to link to the BJS report.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#23)
    by Slado on Tue Aug 01, 2006 at 07:43:44 PM EST
    The problem with prisons is that really bad people are there. I'm sure most prisoners are not awful people but simply people that made mistakes and are paying a heavy price. But too many of them are awful people and it is them that make prison inhabitable dragging all the marginal people down with them. So prisons can't provide a safe environment for anyone because the bad guys will take advantage of reasonable rules and since their already in prison what is the prison supposed to do? Kill them? Keep them in solitary? Treat them inhumanely. Let this be a lesson to those who flirt with the law. Prison is an awful place and all the rules and programs and good hearted initiatives won't fix it. The state should do what it can but ultimately this is a problem that can only be curbed, not stopped.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#24)
    by Sailor on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 07:28:53 AM EST
    The problem with prisons is that really bad people are there.
    most are non-violent offenders, hardly what I'd call 'really bad people.'

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#25)
    by Patrick on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 09:14:55 AM EST
    most are non-violent offenders, hardly what I'd call 'really bad people.'
    I'd like to see the criminal histories of the non-violent offenders before I get out on that limb. Simply because the case at hand is a "non"-violent offense, doesn't mean the offender is non-violent.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#26)
    by JSN on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 11:10:08 AM EST
    Many people think that most persons in prison are non violent drug offenders. I did some research on why they think so and the problem appears to be caused by them quoting statistics for Federal prisoners (about 200,000) and applying tham to all prisoners (about 2 million). Prison inmates convicted of assault, armed robbery, rape, kidnapping, manslaughter and murder are almost always incarcerated in state prisons.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#27)
    by Sailor on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 11:59:59 AM EST
    624,900 State prisoners serving time for a violent offense. State prisons also held an estimated 253,000 property offenders and 265,000 drug offenders.
    so about 49% of state prisoners weren't convicted of violent crimes ... and none of them were sentenced to be raped.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#28)
    by Patrick on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 12:25:05 PM EST
    Al Capone was sentenced for tax evasion, I agree it's a non violent crime, but is he a non-violent inmate? or violent? The point being the offense that they get sentenced for (This time) doesn't necessarily indicate whether they are or aren't a violent criminal.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#29)
    by Patrick on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 12:34:03 PM EST
    Sailor, Here's an article from NACDL which spells it out a little more clearly

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#30)
    by Sailor on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 01:39:13 PM EST
    Hey Patrick, the guy is a fed prosecutor and didn't source any of his statements. They also seem to differ from the stats reported by the doj in my link.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#31)
    by Sailor on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 01:42:46 PM EST
    Patrick, I do see your point, but aside from someone having at some point committed a violent act doesn't necessarily make them a violent person, predator if you will, and no one deserves to be raped.

    Re: The Problem of Prison Rape (none / 0) (#32)
    by Patrick on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 02:00:11 PM EST
    Sailor, I wasn't trying to infer that they deserved to be raped, nor do I think my comments could be construed that way. I hope that someday we find a way to make prisons safer, but I must side with many of the posts here, it ain't an easy solution. More rules won't make those who break rules obey them. Isolation is the only sure fire solution, but at what expense? to the taxpayer and inmate. Yes, he didn't source his statements, but they seem to square with my experience, and if he were so far off base would the NACDL publish him without some rebuttal? My understanding on the data from your link is they were comparing persons incarcerated based on the crime that they were currently incarcerated for. But anyway, you said you saw my point, so no sense beating the proverbial dead horse.

    The Problem of Prison Rape | 29 comments (29 topical)