Age and Sexual Assault in Correctional Facilities: A Blocked Opportunity Approach*

Abstract

We use data from the National Incident‐Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to examine the effects of age on the risk of sexual and physical assault in prisons and jails. Our evidence suggests that male inmates of all ages tend to sexually assault young men. The preference for the young is much stronger for sexual than for physical assault, which suggests that the young are sexually assaulted because of their sexual attractiveness rather than because of their vulnerability. We argue that the strong relationship between sexual attractiveness and age reduces opportunities for consensual sex among older inmates. As a result of blocked opportunities for consensual sex, older men are much more likely to commit sexual assault than one would expect, given the general tendency of young men to be more violent. Thus, the age–attractiveness relationship can parsimoniously explain the contrasting age patterns one observes for offenders and victims.

Factors Associated With Sexual Coercion in a Representative Sample of Men in Australian Prisons

“…While younger age has been reported as a risk factor in U.S. and Australian-based research (Chonco, 1989;Felson et al, 2012;Heilpern, 1998;Morash et al, 2012;Steels & Goulding, 2009;Wolff et al, 2007), we found no statistical association in this study. It should be noted that age considered in our analysis referred to age when surveyed and not age of sexual coercion event.…”

“…One previous U.S.-based study found younger age to be a risk factor for sexual coercion of prisoners committed by staff as opposed to other prisoners (Wolff et al, 2007). Other studies have examined "official" reports of sexual coercion and thus under-reporting is likely (Chonco, 1989;Felson et al, 2012). This was supported by our finding, reported elsewhere (Richters et al, 2012), that only 30% who had experienced sexual coercion reported it to a staff member.…”

“…Studies on associated factors primarily come from the U.S. and typically lack methodological rigor in terms of poor response rates and use of non-random sampling. This 6 could explain the variation in characteristics of those who report sexual coercion in prison, including: younger age (Chonco, 1989;Felson, Cundiff, & Painter-Davis, 2012;Heilpern, 1998;Morash, Jeong, & Northcutt-Bohmert, 2012;Steels & Goulding, 2009;Wolff et al, 2007), small physical stature (Chonco, 1989;Jennes, Maxson, Matsuda, & Sumner, 2007;Man & Cronan, 2001;Morash et al, 2012;Tewskbury, 1989), being racially "White" (Chonco, 1989;Hensley, Koscheski, & Tewksbury, 2005;Struckman-Johnson & Struckman-Johnson, 2006;Tewksbury, 1989), prior sexual victimization (Morash et al, 2012;Wolff et al, 2007), having a mental illness (Cloyes et al, 2010;Wolff et al, 2007), having committed a sexual offence (Kuo, Cuvelier, & Huang, 2014;Man & Cronan, 2001;Struckman-Johnson, Struckman-Johnson, Rucker, Bumby, & Donaldson, 1996), being new to prison (Hensley et al, 2005;Hensley, Tewksbury, & Castle, 2003;Morash et al, 2012;), being perceived as weak or fearful (Bowker, 1980;Chonco, 1989), having feminine characteristics (Chonco, 1989;Man & Cronan, 2001), and identifying as gay or bisexual or a transgender woman (Beck et al, 2013;Hensley et al, 2003Hensley et al, , 2005Jenness et al,...…”

‘You’re a woman, a convenience, a cat, a poof, a thing, an idiot’: Transgender women negotiating sexual experiences in men’s prisons in Australia

“…. Younger age (Chonco, 1989;Felson et al, 2012;Morash et al, 2012;Wolff et al, 2007) . Small physical stature (Chonco, 1989;Jenness et al, 2007;Man and Cronan, 2001;Morash et al, 2012;Tewksbury, 1989) .…”

Forced Sexual Victimization Among Youth in Custody: Do Risk Factors Vary by Gender and Perpetrator?

“…Although some of the characteristics that increase adult inmate risk of sexual victimization directly describe youth, such as younger age and small physical stature (Man & Cronan, 2001;Tewksbury, 1989), they have not been shown to be significant predictors of risk among youth in custody (Ahlin, 2018). Similarly, several lines of evidence suggest that being female (see Beck, Berzofsky, et al, 2013;Teasdale et al, 2016) and new to prison (Felson et al, 2012;Hensley et al, 2005;Man & Cronan, 2001;Morash et al, 2012) are predictors of sexual victimization among adult inmates. However, recent research failed to find a correlation between youths' gender and sexual victimization, suggesting equal risk among boys and girls.…”