The Problem of Prison Rape
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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