Understanding the Decision to Officially Report Sexual Assaults in Prison

Abstract

Most studies of crime reporting examine decisions to report to the police in community settings. While informative, this focus leaves a gap in identifying the correlates of official reporting behaviors among incarcerated individuals. This is noteworthy considering the passage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act mandating states collect and report data on sexual assaults in confinement facilities. To address these concerns, this study provides one of the first multivariable examinations of decisions to officially report sexual assaults to correctional staff. This study also examines the correlates of official reporting across perpetrator type (another incarcerated individual or correctional staff member) and the correlates for not reporting a sexual assault (embarrassment, fear of reprisal, and belief no investigation will take place). The findings indicate most sexual assaults are not reported, and few in-prison experiences or incident characteristics explain the decision to officially report or the reasons for not reporting.