Study: Sex Crimes in U.S. Prisons Underreported

A new report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) says slightly fewer than three inmates in every 1,000 report being sexually abused or harassed. Experts, however, believe the problem is much larger, and many prisoners decline to report attacks because they fear reprisal, do not trust staff, or are embarrassed.

The BJS report examined more than 1,800 correctional facilities housing some 1.7 million inmates, or 78 percent of the adult U.S. prison population. It is the second report to be produced under the requirements of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 and includes additional data on the circumstances surrounding the reported incidents. Its authors were Allen J. Beck and Paige M. Harrison.

In 2005, 6,241 allegations of sexual violence in correctional settings were reported, up from 5,386 in 2004. According to the report, 38 percent of forced sex allegations involved staff, and 35 percent involved inmates. Seventeen percent of harassment complaints involved staff, and 10 percent involved inmates. Only 15 percent of alleged incidents were substantiated. Prison culture, overcrowding, poor supervision, and long sentences combine to discourage inmates from reporting most incidents, said Malcolm Feeley, a professor of law at the University of California-Berkeley.

"What gets reported is the tip of the iceberg," said Cindy Struckman-Johnson, professor of social psychology at the University of South Dakota and a member of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. "In my research, only a third of the inmates actually reported it to anybody working in a prison." Struckman-Johnson said her studies found that 10 percent of male state penitentiary inmates in the Midwest have been raped.

Struckman-Johnson said the commission is warning Congress against jailing juveniles with adults. "When you put kids under 18 in prison with adults, the incidence of rape and abuse is five times higher," she said.

To access the full report, visit www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/svrca05.pdf.

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