There are few existing studies that address sexual misconduct of women offenders toward other women prisoners. This qualitative study examined themes of sexual coercion and sexual assault among women offenders that surfaced in letters sent by one woman offender from prison during a period of 5 years. Four themes emerged from the data: (a) female apathy toward sexual coercion and sexual assault, (b) the femme as the sexual aggressor, (c) insight into one female rape situation, and (d) institutional factors contributing to sexual coercion. To prevent incidences of sexual assault by other offenders, policy suggestions specific to the study included a staff focus on identifying and consistently curbing sexual coercion and installing monitored cameras in restriction dorms.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alarid, L. F. (1996). Women offenders' perceptions of confinement: Behavior code acceptance, hustling, and group relations in jail and prison. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX.
2.
Alarid, L. F.
(1999, November). Understanding women prison subcultures using the case study approach. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Criminology, Toronto, Canada.
3.
Alarid, L. F.
(2000). Sexual orientation perspectives of incarcerated bisexual and gay men: The county jail protective custody experience. The Prison Journal, 80(1), 80-95.
4.
Allgeier, E. R.
, & Lamping, J. C. (1998). Theories, politics, and sexual coercion. In P. B. Anderson & C. Struckman-Johnson, (Eds.), Sexually agressive women (pp. 49-75). New York: Guilford.
5.
Amnesty International
. (1999). Not part of my sentence: Violations of the human rights of women in custody. New York: Amnesty International USA. (may be accessed on the Amnesty International Web site at http://amnestyusa.org/rightsforall/women/index.html)
6.
Anderson, P. B.
(1998). Women's motives for sexual initiation and aggression. In P. B. Anderson & C. Struckman-Johnson (Eds.), Sexually aggressive women (pp. 79-93). New York: Guilford.
7.
APBnews.com. (1999, October 10). Sex with guards rampant at women's prison. Retrieved January 30,2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.apbnews.com/cjsystem/behind_bars/1999/10/10/guards
8.
Bevacqua, M.
(2000). Rape on the public agenda: Feminism and the politics of sexual assault. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
9.
Bowker, L. H.
(1981). Gender differences in prisoner subcultures. In L. H. Bowker (Ed.), Women and crime in America (pp. 409-419). New York: Macmillan.
10.
Bowker, L. H.
(1982). Victimizers and victims in American correctional institutions. In R. J. Johnson & H. Toch (Eds.), The pains of imprisonment (pp. 63-76). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
11.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
. (1999). Women offenders. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
12.
Chonco, N.
(1989). Sexual assaults among male inmates. The Prison Journal, 68(1), 72-82.
13.
Cotton, D.
, & Groth, A. N. (1982). Inmate rape: Prevention and intervention. Journal of Prison and Jail Health, 2(1), 47-57.
14.
Dallao, M.
(1996, December). Fighting prison rape: How to make your facility safer. Corrections Today, pp. 100-106.
15.
Davis, A. J.
(1968, December). Sexual assaults in the Philadelphia prison system and sheriffs' vans. Trans-Action, pp. 8-16.
16.
Donaldson, S.
(1995). Rape of incarcerated Americans: A preliminary statistical look. Retrieved June 22, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.sspr.org/docs/stats.html
17.
Donaldson, S.
, Dumond, R., Knopp, F., Struckman-Johnson, C., & Thompson, L. (1995). Training Americans to rape: The role of our jails, prisons, and reformatories. Retrieved June 22,2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.spr.org/docs/usatoday.html
18.
Dumond, R.
(1992). The sexual assault of male inmates in incarcerated settings. International Journal of the Sociology of the Law, 20, 135-157.
19.
Eigenberg, H.
(1989). Male rape: An empirical examination of correctional officers' attitudes toward rape in prison. The Prison Journal, 68(2), 39-56.
20.
Groth, N.
, & Burgess, A. (1980). Male rape: Offenders and victims. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137(7), 806-819.
21.
Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Project
. (1996). All too familiar: Sexual abuse of women in U.S. state prisons. New York: Human Rights Watch.
22.
Jones, R. S.
, & Schmid, T. J. (1989). Inmates' conceptions of prison sexual assault. The Prison Journal, 68(1), 53-61.
23.
Lockwood, D.
(1980). Prison sexual violence. New York: Elsevier North-Holland.
24.
Lockwood, D.
(1985). Issues in prison sexual violence. The Prison Journal, 62, 73-79.
25.
Nacci, P.
, & Kane, T. (1983). The incidence of sex and sexual aggression in federal prisons. Federal Probation, 47, 31-36.
26.
Nacci, P.
, & Kane, T. (1984). Sex and sexual aggression in federal prisons: Inmate involvement and employee impact. Federal Probation, 48, 46-53.
27.
Odem, M. E.
, & Clay-Warner, J. (1998). Confronting rape and sexual assault (Worlds of Women Series, No. 3). Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources.
28.
Owen, B.
(1998). In the mix. Albany: State University of New York Press.
29.
Pollock-Byrne, J. M.
(1990). Women, prison and crime. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
30.
Russell, D.
(1984). Sexual exploitation: Rape, child sexual abuse, and workplace harassment. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
31.
Saum, C. A.
, Surratt, H. L, Inciardi, J. A., & Bennett R. E. (1995). Sex in prison: The myths and realities. The Prison Journal, 75, 413-430.
32.
Schwartz, M. D.
, & Dekeseredy, W. S. (1997). Sexual assault on the college campus: The role of male peer support. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
33.
Scully, D.
(1990). Understanding sexual violence. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
34.
Searles, P.
, & Berger, R. J. (1995). Rape and society: Readings on the problem of sexual assault. Boulder, CO: Westview.
35.
Smith, B.
(1998). An end to silence: Women prisoner's handbook on identifying and addressing sexual misconduct. Washington, DC: National Women's Law Center.
36.
Smith, N.
, & Batiuk, M. (1989). Sexual victimization and inmate social interaction. The Prison Journal, 68, 29-38.
37.
Stanko, E.
(1985). Intimate intrusions: Women's experience of male violence. New York: Routledge Kegan Paul.
38.
Struckman-Johnson, C.
, & Struckman-Johnson, D. (1999, November). Pressured and forced sexual contact reported by women in three midwestern prisons. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Sexuality and the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, St. Louis, MO.
39.
Struckman-Johnson, C.
, & Struckman-Johnson, D. (2000, March). Sexual coercion rates in ten prison facilities in the Midwest. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, New Orleans, LA.
40.
Struckman-Johnson, C.
, Struckman-Johnson, D., Rucker, L., Bumby, K., & Donaldson, S. (1996). Sexual coercion reported by men and women in prison. The Journal of Sex Research, 33, 67-76.
41.
Tewksbury, R.
(1989a). Fear of sexual assault in prison inmates. The Prison Journal, 69, 62-71.
42.
Tewksbury, R.
(1989b). Measures of sexual behavior in an Ohio prison. Sociology and Social Research, 74, 34-39.
43.
U.S. General Accounting Office
. (1999). Women in prison: Sexual misconduct by correctional staff. Washington, DC: Author.
44.
Wooden, W. S.
, & Parker, J. (1982). Men behind bars: Sexual exploitation in prison. New York: Plenum.
