The Culture of Prison Sexual Violence
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The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared the following final report: Document Title: The Culture of Prison Sexual Violence Author(s): Mark S. Fleisher ; Jessie L. Krienert Document No.: 216515 Date Received: November 2006 Award Number: 2003-RP-BX-1001 This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federally- funded grant final report available electronically in addition to traditional paper copies. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. THE CULTURE OF PRISON SEXUAL VIOLENCE MARK S. FLEISHER, PH.D. CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY JESSIE L. KRIENERT, PH.D. ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY THIS REPORT WAS PREPARED FOR THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE THROUGH GRANT NUMBER 2003-RP-BX-1001 OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS DOCUMENT DO NOT REPRESENT THE OFFICIAL POSITION OR POLICIES OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE, CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY AND ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY OR ITS TRUSTEES. Correspondence or inquiries should be addressed to Dr. Fleisher, 216-269-7348, [email protected] This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. 2 TABLES ............................................................................................................................. 7 FIGURES............................................................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER 1. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON PRISON CULTURE AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE RESEARCH................................................................................ 19 EARLY DECADES OF PRISON SEX RESEARCH...................................................... 20 1930S TO 1950S........................................................................................................................................ 20 EARLY DECADES: SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS ..................................................................................... 27 MIDDLE DECADES OF PRISON SEX RESEARCH.................................................... 28 1950S TO 1970S........................................................................................................................................ 28 Influences of World War II on the conceptualization of prison culture.............................................. 28 SYKES’S INFLUENCE ON THE FUTURE OF PRISON INTELLECTUAL THOUGHT ............................................ 32 MIDDLE DECADES: SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS ................................................................................... 39 MODERN DECADES OF PRISON SEX RESEARCH.................................................. 41 1980S TO 2000S........................................................................................................................................ 41 THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO INMATE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR....................... 45 Importation vs. Deprivation................................................................................................................ 45 Goffman’s Dramaturgical Sociology.................................................................................................. 46 Race, ethnicity, and aggression .......................................................................................................... 48 Fear of sexual assault ......................................................................................................................... 49 MODERN DECADES: SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS.................................................................................. 51 RESEARCH LITERATURE ON WOMEN INMATES.................................................. 51 Pseudo-families................................................................................................................................... 53 Women inmates’ homosexuality.......................................................................................................... 54 Sexual Coercion and Rape.................................................................................................................. 54 Definitional Issues .............................................................................................................................. 55 Prison socialization: pseudo-family vs. the mix.................................................................................. 55 Institutional Factors............................................................................................................................ 57 Research limitations............................................................................................................................ 57 Final Comments.................................................................................................................................. 58 CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY.................................... 59 WHAT THIS RESEARCH DID NOT DO........................................................................................................ 59 INFLUENCE OF CLEMMER’S THEORY OF CULTURE ON METHODOLOGY.................................................... 60 This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. 3 PRIMARY THEORETICAL-ANALYTIC CONCEPTS................................................. 61 Prison Speech Community .................................................................................................................. 61 Clemmer’s Supra-Individual Theory of Culture ................................................................................. 63 GATHERING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE DATA................................................... 64 ETHNOGRAPHIC VS. NON-ETHNOGRAPHIC QUERIES ................................................................................ 64 Nature of ethnographic questions....................................................................................................... 64 PROJECT SET-UP ........................................................................................................... 66 Developing a methodology.................................................................................................................. 66 Correctional institution site selection ................................................................................................. 67 Research Team.................................................................................................................................... 70 In the field: asking former inmates about prison sex......................................................................... 71 Office interviews with former inmates ................................................................................................ 73 Testing the instrument in prison.......................................................................................................... 74 INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT: INFLUENCES FROM PREVIOUS RESEARCH ................................................ 76 Conceptual findings ............................................................................................................................ 77 Substantive findings ............................................................................................................................ 78 FINAL INTERVIEW INSTRUMENT: DESCRIPTIVE CATEGORIES ...................... 78 INTERVIEW INSTRUMENT: CATEGORICAL STRUCTURE............................................................................ 79 Interview instrument: significance in the order of question categories ............................................. 82 INMATE SAMPLING DESIGN ...................................................................................................................... 83 Limitations of sampling design ........................................................................................................... 84 Informed Consent Process .................................................................................................................. 86 Unanticipated events........................................................................................................................... 88 Interview guidelines............................................................................................................................ 88 ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................... 90 RECURRING “PIECES” OF PRISON-RAPE KNOWLEDGE.............................................................................. 90 Significance of cultural information ................................................................................................... 91 Data collection.................................................................................................................................... 92 Computer aided qualitative analysis..................................................................................................