Sex and Sexuality in Women’s Prisons

Abstract

The literature on sexuality in women's correctional facilities has identified a variety of sexual behaviors in which female convicts and prison staff participate. However, no single taxonomy has been developed that adequately describes the range of sexual behaviors found within the confines of women's prisons. The ensuing analysis rectifies this deficiency by delineating a typology of the same. First, the classification system specifies the scope of sexual activities operating within female correctional environs. Next, the heuristic foundation of the typology is tentatively explored, especially in relation to advancing proactive sexual exploitation/victimization prevention initiatives that help to equip correctional officers, wardens, and administrators for work in women's prisons. Finally, several future research directions are speculatively outlined regarding convict sexuality and the treatment of sexual abuse (for victims/perpetrators) in female correctional institutions. These include programming and policy strategies that arguably attend to the health, mental health, and social welfare needs of incarcerated women. 280The Prison Journal 91(3) Keywords sex and sexuality, women's prisons, typological model, violence and victims, correctional programming and policy

An Analysis of Statutes Criminalizing Correctional Officer Sexual Misconduct With Inmates

“…Furthermore, as stated above, power and coercion are essential when examining sexual misconduct because inmates are unable to consent, based on their status (Asbridge, 2007; Buell & McCampbell, 2003; Coolman, 2003; De Amicis, 2005; GAO, 1999; Pardue et al, 2011). Yet, approximately three fourths of states do not mention power or disciplinary authority over inmates.…”

“…Due to the proximity of and access to inmates by correctional officers, as well as the isolation of correctional environments, romantic relationships and sexual involvement may occur (Baro, 1997). However, the concern is that the power disparity between correctional officers and inmates sets up situations in which officers may use the power of their position to intimidate and/or coerce inmates into sexual acts (Asbridge, 2007; Buell & McCampbell, 2003; Coolman, 2003; De Amicis, 2005; GAO, 1999; Pardue, Arrigo, & Murphy, 2011). Given this power imbalance, consensual sexual relationships between correctional staff and inmates are socially and legally prohibited.…”

“…From 2009 to 2011, about 9.6% of substantiated staff sexual misconduct cases were the result of pressure or abuse of power (Beck, Rantala, & Rexroat, 2014). Sexual violence or misconduct may occur through manipulation (i.e., a quid pro quo bargain between two participants with unequal power), compliance (i.e., inmates reluctantly engage in sexual acts with staff to gain protection, out of fear, or to avoid other victimization), and/or coercion (i.e., covert or overt pressure to have a sexual relationship) (Pardue et al, 2011). For sexual coercion, Struckman-Johnson and Struckman-Johnson (2002) found that intimidation and threats were most often used by perpetrators to pressure inmates into sex.…”

Restrictive Housing Placement and Length of Stay: A Latent Class Analysis With Mixed Distributions

“…Although extant studies have revealed much on the pairwise relationship between the outcome of interest and individual risk factors (e.g., between prior history and RH placement or between aggression and RH placement), there has been relatively scant attention on how these risk factors bundle with each other, and how they jointly shape the need for specifically focused interventions. It is common for actors in the criminal justice system to separate criminal-justice-involved individuals into different types and treat each perceived type accordingly (Clements, 1996; Pardue et al, 2011). Compared with the more common and conventional analyses relying on regression coefficients for individual risk factors, the type-based approach is gaining popularity in domains such as criminal careers (Nieuwbeerta et al, 2011) and courts and sentencing (Kimchi, 2019).…”

Seksualne zachowania kobiet w warunkach izolacji penitencjarnej — przegląd teorii

“…W kontekście omawianego zagadnienia warto przybliżyć pojęcie zaczerpnięte z amerykańskiej literatury, jailhouse turnout [19] (które można zdefiniować jako "homoseksualną prostytucję penitencjarną"), określające penitentów (zarówno kobiety, jak i mężczyzn) decydujących się na aktywność homoseksualną tylko podczas wyroku [18,20,21], często z hedonistycznych pobudek związanych z chęcią wejścia w posiadanie deficytowych dóbr i towarów. Dualistyczny (emocjonalny i materialny) charakter istniejących między więźniarkami relacji potwierdzają wypowiedzi respondentek przebywających w izraelskim zakładzie karnym dla kobiet Neve Tirza.…”