Acknowledged but Ignored: A Critical Race Theory Approach to the Prison Rape Elimination Act

Abstract

K e v i n M e di n a Br i a n Ngu y e n I was dehuman [ized] by the lack of empathy prison officials have towards victims of sexual assault, potential victims, inmate['s] safety in general.Inmates are looked at and treated as subhuman across the board. If an incident can be covered, it will be. If it can be ignored, it will be.-As cited in No Escape, Male Rape in US Prisons (2011).Why is there a prison rape epidemic?In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander argues that the criminal justice system has essentially become the United States' new racial caste system. Through the systematic persecution and prosecution of mainly black bodies, beginning with the Reagan administration's supposed "War on Drugs," the prison population exploded starting in the 1980s, (over) filling prisons with nonwhites. This system of criminalizing racial minorities results from a distinct inequality of criminalization: despite proportional rates of drug use across ethnicities, African Americans see higher incarceration rates of any other ethnicity and experience harsher punishments for similar violations. 1 Beyond the war on drugs, other historically disenfranchised communities, including individuals of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latina/o descent, immigrants, Native Americans, and LGBT individuals are victimized as the result of overt and more subtle collusion of systematic practices of racism, classism, transphobia,

Carceral safety in a post-PREA era: An examination of perceptual indicators of safety among incarcerated persons in four southeast prisons

“…While some similarities across measures of perceived safety are evident, others differ between perceived violence from staff compared to perceived violence from other incarcerated men; for example, respondents who identify as “straight” report higher safety perceptions across both outcomes. The consistency of the effects of sexual preference on multiple dimensions of perceived safety parallels the profound documented evidence of LGBTQ vulnerability exacerbated by prison culture, hegemonic masculinities, homophobia, gender misclassification, and other factors (Brown and Jenness, 2020; Dumond, 2003; Medina and Nguyen, 2018). While age is also a significant predictor of safety perceptions across both outcomes, younger respondents appear more fearful of staff while middle aged respondents seem more threatened by other residents.…”

“…In furtherance of this goal, prison officials may apply for available PREA grants allotted for the enhancement of “approaches to prevention, detection, and responses to incidents of sexual abuse” (National PREA Resource Center, 2023). Awarded grants can be used to thoroughly evaluate available validated risk-assessment instruments to better screen for vulnerable residents and potential aggressors, regularly assess the quality of these tools to account for changes over time as needed, regularly access and review current rigorous research on prison safety and modify procedures as needed, and protect at-risk residents by ensuring properly trained personnel are cautiously consorting assessment outcomes when assigning classifications, housing, work, and other assignments (Corlew, 2005; McGuire, 2005; Medina and Nguyen, 2018). In keeping with PREA standards, administrative segregation should only be used in the absence of viable alternatives due to the empirically established emotional and psychological harms associated with such isolation (Corlew, 2005; Medina and Nguyen, 2018).…”

“…Further research on perceptions of safety among LGBTQ populations in custodial care is also needed. Because this population is at a higher risk of sexual victimization (see Brown and Jenness, 2020; Dumond, 2003; Medina and Nguyen, 2018), empirical data on predictors of their safety perceptions would serve an essential role in protecting this vulnerable population. Finally, further inquiry into the relationship between perceptions of safety and the number of reported sexual assault incidents is warranted.…”

“…Though widely acclaimed, it would be inaccurate to imply that PREA has achieved universal approval. Critics have argued that this policy is superfluous due to disputably low estimates of sexual assault prevalence in prisons, ineffective due to existing reform barriers, “toothless” with debatably low-stakes noncompliance consequences, harmful for incarcerated LGBTQ populations who risk involuntary administrative segregation, an administrative burden, and racially motivated to protect growing numbers of incarcerated white men (Arkles, 2014; Eggert, 2018; Medina and Nguyen, 2018). While advocates and critics of PREA tend to agree that prison rape is a vile crime, they seem to reach different conclusions on whether this legislative act functions as an asset capable of eliminating rape.…”