Inmate-on-Inmate Victimization Among Older Male Prisoners

Abstract

Research on the safety and victimization of older prisoners has been limited. This study examines quantitative and qualitative victimization data gathered from face-to-face interviews with 65 male prisoners (ages 50 and above) confined in a state-level prison system. Both victimization rates and narrative descriptions of psychological, property, physical, and sexual inmate-on-inmate episodes are presented. Content analyses suggest that younger prisoners victimize older prisoners and that a majority of older prisoners support the use of age-segregated living arrangements to prevent victimization. Future research is needed to address methodological limitations of this study and others.

Inmate homicides: Killers, victims, motives, and circumstances

“…The same pattern was observed in the 2001-2006 national data from the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program described in table form by Mumola and Noonan (2008). This observation provided some support for correctional policies that separate younger and older inmates as a victimizationprevention intervention (see Kerbs & Jolley, 2007).…”

“…Rates of prison homicide can be significantly influenced by administrative policies and staff morale (Reisig, 2002), as well as other jurisdiction-specific contextual/situational factors. To illustrate such factors, studies of nonlethal inmate violence had demonstrated that intermingling of inmates of widely differing age can impact on rates of victimization (Kerbs & Jolley, 2007;Lahm, 2008). Prison gang affiliation has a clear association in prison violence and homicide (Reisig, 2002), and the current study demonstrated a similar relationship.…”

Race group differences in prison victimization experiences

“…Some research has uncovered an inverse age effect (Kerbs & Jolley, 2007;Wolff, Shi, & Siegel, 2009;Wooldredge, 1994Wooldredge, , 1998, although anecdotal observations made by Irwin (2005) and Sparks, Bottoms, and Hay (1996) suggest higher odds of victimization among older inmates. The general conclusion regarding an inmate's level of education appears to be that education is unrelated to the odds of physical victimization (Perez et al 2010;Wolff, Shi, & Siegel, 2009;Wooldredge, 1998), but is positively related to property victimization (Wolff, Shi, & Siegel, 2009;Wooldredge, 1998).…”

Trauma and Stress Among Older Adults in the Criminal Justice System: A Review of the Literature with Implications for Social Work

“…As for trauma, some studies used narrower definitions, such as one or more of the following: childhood abuse and neglect, current sexual coercion or psychological or property victimization, death anxiety, loss and separation, or racial discrimination (e.g., Aday, 2006;Kerbs & Jolley, 2007). In comparison, other studies used broader definitions of trauma that included a variety of lifetime traumatic and life event stressors, such as being a victim of and/or witness to physical and sexual victimization and life events stressors, such as loss of a loved one, divorce, or job loss (e.g., Grella, Stein, & Greenwell, 2005).…”