The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

Abstract

Although the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is an acknowledgment of problems posed by forcible sexual assault in prisons and jails, many institutions of confinement at various levels of government continue to struggle with developing compliant policies and procedures. Given this practical reality, the purpose of this article is twofold. First, the authors examined the policies of 28 states plus the Federal Bureau of Prisons ( n = 29) to assess the extent to which they comply with federal law using eight evaluative dimensions. Second, the authors excerpted language from various policy statements for the benefit of those institutions that are still in the process of developing their own such documentation. Emphasis is placed on identifying core dimensions of comprehensive policy statements along with observations and conclusions regarding future implications of prison rape abatement measures.