No More Sexual Assault For Prisoners

This essay will examine the social and cultural conditions, within the macro-diachronic and micro-synchronic theoretical models , that intensify or perpetuate sexual assault. I have chosen only one concept from each model because these are the only concepts that I feel that I can use to most accurately and comprehensively depict causes and reasons for why sexual assault is deeply entrenched in our social structure. I will thus explore, from these ideological viewpoints, some of the motivations and circumstances which lead offenders to sexual assault. I will also fuse some of the historical attitudes from which today's concepts have evolved to our contemporary understanding of this social

The values of the prison culture result from the deprivations of prison, inmates adapt to the prison culture upon being incarcerated in order for survival. As inmates are processed they begin to lose a part of their identity and the social norms in society are different in jails and prison. Inmates feel the need to integrate with inmates with the same beliefs and interests in order to feel a sense of safety and security. In female prisons, inmates create their own “families” in which they rely on each other for support. “For both genders, there is a hierarchy in prison whereby inmates who have committed crimes against children, such as rape, are at the bottom stratum of the prison structure.

The issue of sexual assault in correctional facilities is very complex and the implications reach far beyond the walls of the institution. Congress found that “prison rape endangers the public’s safety by making brutalized inmates more likely to commit crimes when they are released.”

There are many different types of people in prison. This includes race, religion, age, and nonviolent and violent inmates. “People who break the law are not all alike. They are an enormously diverse group of human beings.” says a sheriff at a prison in Illinois. Black individuals are imprisoned nearly six times the amount of white individuals. Latinos are two times the white rate. 13% of the U.S. population is black, 14% of the black populations are drug users, and 37% of the black prison population are in for drug use. (Wilson pg. 1 par. 9) Prison is full of many racists and black and white individuals are put in the same cell. Because of the higher black population in prison, if a fight breaks out between races, the odds are always in the black peoples favor. Also, prisons routinely put violent and nonviolent inmates together. This puts the nonviolent inmate in danger. Lastly, age differences have become an issue. When inmates of different ages, six years or more, are placed in the same cell, a fight is ten times more likely to happen. (Harris pg. 2)

Approximately 240,000 brutal rapes occur in our prison systems each year (Lozoff). Most of the victims are young, nonviolent male inmates, many of them teenaged first offenders. They are traumatized beyond imagination. Most of these inmates are nonviolent criminals who cannot or will not defend themselves. Unfortunately, this results in many of those nonviolent offenders turning violent by the time they leave prison.

The idea that the author is trying to push is that it isn’t just classification that will help solve the problem but also the management that must be taken into account. The way the prisoners are classified when they come into prison is a way that should be looked at to assure the decisions about inmates and prison programming goes into effect. The author discusses ways that prisoners can be “matched” with prisons and facilities in order to increase their chances of staying in prison non-violent. When prisons are overcrowded, classification decisions are more haphazard and restricted which makes prisoners over classified.

It is dreadful enough to get raped, but having to see your perpetrator every day and possibly raping you again is a constant fear that many inmates have to encounter. According to the Bureau of Justice (BJS), in 2008 correctional administrators reported 7,444 allegations of sexual abuse in prisons. About 46 % of the sexual abuse involved staff with inmates. But these statistics do not include the many cases that go unreported due to victim’s fear of being punished by their perpetrators and/ or to embarrassment and humiliation that comes with rape. Although prison rape is prevalent, many individuals find it normal and even find it a laughing matter. Prison rape is abnormal and has huge consequences if not dealt with. Some of the

Contrary to popular belief sexually transmitted diseases are not the only physical harm victims of prison rape endure. Many rape victims endure broken bones, broken noses, bruises, cuts, concussions, and the obvious genital injuries. Sexual assaults also increases violent behavior in prisons because inmates who feel like they may be a future target of sexually assault, defend themselves, and lash out in these violent rages and fights to establish themselves with a “tough guy” reputation to prevent any sexual misconduct from other inmates.

When we do research on daily prison life, we come across two typical but less than ideal situations: either social imaginaries cloud our judgment or information provided by the prisons themselves hide certain weak or bad aspects that they do not want to make public. We can also find information on TV, but most of the time it either exaggerates or minimizes the facts. In order to obtain more reliable information, we have to have access to people who are working or have worked in this institution, and such will be the sources of this essay. We will be describing and giving examples of prison violence according to three types of violence: sexual, physical and psychological violence.

They often rape the suitable targets who are more vulnerable and those who are labeled as ‘’fresh meat’’ who need to fit in with other prisoners to prevent being a loner. The most vulnerable inmate is described as a Caucasian, middle-class male with a slight build who possesses a youthful and attractive demeanor and is most likely a first-time, non-violent Offender (Dumont, 2000; Greene, 1984). Those who are also prime targets are effeminate gays, male-to-female transsexuals and those who are unassertive, passive, shy and intellectual (Greene, 1984). The more high-risk characteristics an inmate possesses the more likely they are to be targeted. Inmates younger in age or who appear to be youthful are at high risk as well with most victimized

he know that he was going to get raped by other inmates. According to a group called, “Stop Prisoner Rape” states, “More than 200,000 men are raped behind bars each year (Stop Prisoner Rape). This statistic is at a high rate, but what is there being done to decrease the number? At the age of forty-six, Cook is released from prison and still remembers what happened to him this very day. I can see Cook being traumatized because he has to live with this for the rest of his life.

A prison is a sex-segregated community and sexual gratification can only be achieved through a person of the same sex. 2. Although the behavior is forbidden and regulated, it is often tolerated by corrections officers and other inmates. This passive acceptance encourages the creation of status roles, where some inmates are assigned more masculine identities while others are seen as weaker. 3. Insufficient work opportunities lead to boredom and idle time for long periods. Inmates who work are kept busy and are less likely to participate in deviant behaviors. 4. Overcrowding of prisons causes close quarters for inmates, in which they watch each other change clothes and use the bathroom. Older inmates often take advantage of this situation with the younger inmates. 5. The current classification system of inmates does not segregate individuals based on sexual preference. 6. Complete isolation from the outside world and the norms of society can influence inmates to develop their own norms, one of those entailing sexual interaction with other inmates

The distinctive cultural groups contrast to conventional norm of subculture has demonstrated the increase of prison enrollment. Norms that is labelled as deviant that can range from pickpocketing, stealing, rapes and murders. These vast differences of degree of deviant behaviors causes juvenile jails or regular jails. From the mass enrollment with the general populations in prison of the same sex that can range from different severity. While in jail many unwilling sexual intercourse if performed. Rape, is the unwanted and force sexual intercourse from someone of the same or opposite sex. According to the Editorial Board, “Previous studies have found that juveniles housed in adult facilities were at greater risk of sexual assault than

Classification is a process by which jails or prisons place inmates in different custody levels based on the needs of the offender and resources of the institutions (Smith, 2012). The history of classification basically follows the changes in correctional philosophy as before 1870, “when correction’s focused on retribution and punishment, classification was based primarily on type of offense and inmates were classified for the purpose of determining the appropriate form of punishment (Smith, 2012, par. 1). In the late 1800s, reform and rehabilitation became the new goals and “classification began to ground itself in clinical diagnostic and treatment categories that stress the personal pathologies of offenders” Smith, 2012, par. 1).

Sexual assault and rape is a major issue luring over America and the rest of the world and society is playing a major role in the degrading the seriousness of it. Society has normalized sexual assault by trying to blame the conditions on what the victim was wearing or their prior activities of the night. Society reduces assault to a “normal” behaviors of the sexes. The common uses