Inmate Victimization Research Articles

Criminal Justice System- A Study Of Victimization of Prisoners in Jails

A considerable amount of research has been directed at understanding the sources of inmate misconduct (offending within prison), whereas few studies have focused on identifying the causes and correlates of prisoner victimization. The sources of inmate victimization should be distinguished from those of offending, however, because the policy implications of each focus differ to some extent. In order to determine the predictors of inmate victimization and stimulate further research on the topic, we systematically reviewed studies of the causes/correlates of prisoner victimization published between 1980 and 2019. Our findings revealed that predictor variables reflecting inmates’ background characteristics (e.g., history of victimization), their institutional routines and experiences (e.g., history of misconduct), and prison characteristics (e.g., population size) all influence victimization.

Exploring Associations Between Interpersonal Violence and Prison Size in Spanish Prisons

The majority of research based on prisons in the United States has found a positive association between prison size and inmate victimization. This study estimates rates and identifies inmate and institutional characteristics associated with victimization in the Spanish prisons, with special attention on the prison size. Data were collected from a sample of male inmates aged 18 years or older ( n = 2,484) located in eight prisons in the southeast of Spain. Holding inmate characteristics constant, rates of victimization were significantly and substantively higher in larger prisons. Understanding the prison size–victimization association requires further qualitative investigation to identify whether size creates more spaces for victimization (structural opportunities) and/or lapses in supervision due to depersonalization or impersonalization (social distancing).

Reducing Violence in Correctional Institutions: Revalidation of the Inmate Risk Assessment for Violent, Nonsexual Victimization

Jail and prison administrators are responsible for ensuring institutional safety and order. Recent estimates indicate violence in correctional institutions is pervasive. One promising approach to reduce institutional violence is using a risk assessment to predict the likelihood of victimization. Once corrections officials identify high victimization risk offenders, these authorities can take steps to triage interventions to mitigate such risks. This strategy, however, requires a classification instrument that is available and predictively valid. In 2014, Labrecque, Smith, and Wooldredge created one such tool—the Inmate Risk Assessment for Violent, Nonsexual Victimization (RVNSV). This study reassesses the predictive validity of the RVNSV on a sample of adult inmates in the United States. The results indicate the RVNSV is a valid predictor of inmate victimization, among males and females.

Reducing Violence in Correctional Institutions: Revalidation of the Inmate Risk Assessment for Violent, Nonsexual Victimization.

Jail and prison administrators are responsible for ensuring institutional safety and order. Recent estimates indicate violence in correctional institutions is pervasive. One promising approach to reduce institutional violence is using a risk assessment to predict the likelihood of victimization. Once corrections officials identify high victimization risk offenders, these authorities can take steps to triage interventions to mitigate such risks. This strategy, however, requires a classification instrument that is available and predictively valid. In 2014, Labrecque, Smith, and Wooldredge created one such tool-the Inmate Risk Assessment for Violent, Nonsexual Victimization (RVNSV). This study reassesses the predictive validity of the RVNSV on a sample of adult inmates in the United States. The results indicate the RVNSV is a valid predictor of inmate victimization, among males and females.

The Impact of Inmate and Prison Characteristics on Prisoner Victimization

A considerable amount of research has been directed at understanding the sources of inmate misconduct (offending within prison), whereas few studies have focused on identifying the causes and correlates of prisoner victimization. The sources of inmate victimization should be distinguished from those of offending, however, because the policy implications of each focus differ to some extent. In order to determine the predictors of inmate victimization and stimulate further research on the topic, we systematically reviewed studies of the causes/correlates of prisoner victimization published between 1980 and 2014. Our findings revealed that predictor variables reflecting inmates’ background characteristics (e.g., history of victimization), their institutional routines and experiences (e.g., history of misconduct), and prison characteristics (e.g., population size) all influence victimization.

Further Inspection Into the Effects of Correctional Officers’ Sex, Race, and Perceptions of Safety on Job-Related Attitudes

This article examines more closely the empirical relationships between correctional officers’ job attitudes and officer demographics and perceptions of safety. Bi-level analyses from 1,740 officers in 45 prisons revealed that officers’ sex and race mattered for shaping an officer’s pride with co-workers, consideration of transferring to another facility, and perceptions of co-workers’ job satisfaction, but only as they were linked to perceptions of sexism and racism. Perceptions of safety also mattered. Yet, levels of inmate crime and victimization were irrelevant for shaping attitudes. Positive attitudes were also more common in facilities housing higher risk populations, and in facilities for men.

Predictors of Violent and Nonviolent Victimization Behind Bars: An Exploration of Women Inmates

There is a substantial lack of information identifying the risk factors associated with victimization among women inmates. The current study seeks to remedy that by testing variables from 2 competing theories of inmate violence/victimization: importation and deprivation. Drawing from self-report data from more than 300 women in a midwestern prison, I uniquely analyze 4 types of inmate victimization (i.e., violent, property, sexual, and verbal). The results reveal that 2 importation variables, age and prior education, and only 1 deprivation variable, receipt of disciplinary tickets, are significant across all 4 types of victimization. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

No place to run, no place to hide: Socio-organizational processes and patterns of inmate victimization

This paper discusses the victimization patterns of inmates of the largest prison unit of Bahia. It uses data from a screening survey with 591 participants, which culminated in 107 semistructured interviews and direct observation. The study demonstrates that 54.3% of inmates report some type of material, physical, and psychological victimization. It asserts that those patterns are structured by institutional violence, jail arrangements, and criminal gangs in the prison. It also demonstrates the influence of the availability of economic, cultural, and social capital in the levels of vulnerability. It concludes that the drama of inmate victimization is a key to understand the dynamics of a prison system that is more dystopian than we can imagine.

A Bi-level Framework for Understanding Prisoner Victimization

OBJECTIVEs To present and test an opportunity perspective on prison inmate victimization. METHODS Stratified random samples of inmates (n 1 = 5,640) were selected from Ohio and Kentucky prisons (n 2 = 46). Bi-level models of the prevalence of assaults and thefts were estimated. Predictors included indicators of inmate routines/guardianship, target antagonism, and target vulnerability at the individual level, and several indicators of guardianship at the facility level. RESULTS Assaults were more common among inmates with certain routines and characteristics that might have increased their odds of being victimized (e.g., less time spent in recreation; committed violence themselves during incarceration), and higher levels of assaults characterized environments with lower levels of guardianship (e.g., architectural designs with more "blind spots", larger populations, and less rigorous rule enforcement as perceived by correctional officers). Similar findings emerged for thefts in addition to stronger individual level effects in prisons with weaker guardianship (e.g., ethnic group differences in the risk of theft were greater in facilities with larger populations and less rigorous rule enforcement). CONCLUSIONS The study produced evidence favoring a bi-level opportunity perspective of inmate victimization, with some unique differences in the relevance of particular concepts between prison and non-prison contexts. Language: en

Race group differences in prison victimization experiences

PurposeTo assess differences in victimization risk between African American and white, non-Latino inmates, and to estimate race group differences in the correlates of victimization. MethodsRandom samples totaling 2,403 African Americans and 3,150 whites were drawn from all state prisons in Ohio and Kentucky and all private prisons in Ohio (n=46). Race-specific bi-level models of physical assaults and property thefts were estimated. Differences between race-specific models in the magnitude of regression coefficients for the same predictors and outcomes were compared. ResultsThe odds of victimization by physical assault and by theft were significantly higher among whites compared to African Americans. Race group differences in the magnitude of several inmate level effects (e.g., age, sex, education, family status, officer “legitimacy”, custody score, visitation) were also significant, yet facility effects were similar for both groups. ConclusionsAssessing differences in the victimization experiences of African American and white inmates is important for developing effective crime prevention strategies in prison. We examined the most comprehensive models of inmate victimization (including inmate socio-demographics, activities during confinement, perceptions of officers, facility characteristics, and officer perceptions of rule enforcement) for one of the largest samples of prisons to date.

Do Fairness and Equity Matter?

The concepts of justice and fairness are commonly examined in the literature on criminal justice, except for the issues affecting organizational justice in the workplace. Organizational justice has two properties: distributive justice (the focus on the outcome of a decision) and procedural justice (the decision-making process that leads to the outcome). The authors surveyed 1,200 correctional officers across one state's prison system. Both organizational justice dimensions were leading predictors of job stress and variants of organizational commitment (i.e., climate for learning and type of organizational climate). Procedural justice was related to individual perceptions of fear and perceived risk of inmate victimization. A positive work environment was more likely to occur when employees had a moderate to high sense of equity, which influenced factors related to acceptance of change, stronger commitment to the organization, and better understanding and agreement with organizational goals. Study findings reaffirm the need for administrators to support organizational justice through expanded use of work team processes whereby staff are involved in assessing organizational functionality and recommending improvements.

Individual and Institutional Characteristics Related to Inmate Victimization

This study examines the effect of inmate and institutional characteristics on inmate victimization during incarceration. In addition, it examines whether factors related to inmate victimization varies by perpetrator type, specifically inmate versus staff victimizer. Self-reported data from 247 male and female inmates confined to eight correctional institutions are collected, including questions regarding their experiences of staff-on-inmate and inmate-on-inmate victimization. Results show that similar institutional-level variables predict both types of inmate victimization; however, there are some differences between outcomes based on inmate-level characteristics. The authors address possible explanations for the results and suggest several policy implications to reduce the incidence of prison violence.

Physical and Property Victimization Behind Bars

The majority of the extant literature on inmate victimization considers only one level of analysis, thus ignoring the interaction effects between inmate- and prison-level variables. To extend this literature, multilevel modeling techniques were used to analyze self-report data from more than 1,000 inmates and 30 prisons in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. Results revealed that demographic variables were strong predictors of physical victimization (i.e., race and assaultive behavior). Also, security level had a contextual direct effect on physical victimization. Property victimization was best explained with an integrated model including inmate (i.e., race, assaultive behavior, prior education, prior employment, and time served), contextual (i.e., security level and proportion non-White), and micro-macro interaction variables (i.e., Race x Security Level). Policy implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Observed violence, abuse, and risk behaviors in juvenile correctional facilities: Comparison of inmate and staff reports

The study examines inmate victimization by peers and staff in three types of juvenile correctional facilities (diagnostic, hostel, closed) in Israel. Querying both inmates and staff, it obtained three main sets of findings: (1) The staffs reported somewhat more peer violence and dangerous-destructive behaviors on the part of the inmates than the inmates did, while the inmates reported more staff abuse than the staffs did. The largest disparity in their reporting was in the reporting of staff abuse in the closed facilities. (2) The highest levels of dangerous-destructive behaviors and staff abuse were reported in the closed institutions; the highest level of peer violence was reported in the hostels, which housed the offenders who were deemed suitable for living in the community. (3) The levels of all the types of violence were similar in the facilities for boys and girls. Overall, the findings suggest that even as the correctional staffs are not blind to the violence in the facilities, the young inmates are not adequately protected from victimization, either by peers or staff members.

Inmate Lifestyles and Opportunities for Victimization

Inmate-on-inmate crime poses a serious threat to the goals of institutional corrections. Research to date on inmate victimization suggests that demographic and background characteristics (such as age and the seriousness of the offense incarcerated for) are important predictors of victimization risk during incarceration. Yet, the relative importance of demographics versus institutional lifestyles for predicting inmate victimization has never been examined. This article presents the results of a study designed to test the applicability of lifestyle theory to an understanding of victimization in correctional institution domains. Results support lifestyle theory as a viable explanation of victimizations involving physical assaults by other inmates as well as those involving theft of personal properties. The implications of these results are discussed.

Inmate crime and victimization in a southwestern correctional facility

Victimization among inmates of a correctional facility poses significant problems for the successful control and treatment of inmates. This article presents results from a study of several possible influences on an adult male inmate's likelihood of committing personal crime, his likelihood of committing property crime, and his likelihood of being victimized by personal crime or property crime in a medium-security correctional facility located in the southwestern United States. Results suggest that the characteristics of offenders and victims differ in several respects. These characteristics are presented along with their implications for policies designed to reduce inmate victimization.

Aggressive behavior among female inmates: An exploratory study

Over the past decade the issue of inmate violence and victimization in institutions for adult males has dominated the field of penology. Despite evidence of violence and degradation in institutions for women, empirical research documenting this phenomenon is scarce. Using data gathered from the Minnesota correctional facility for adult female felons, this study looks at the extent of agressive behavior among female inmates and examines some of the factors that may be associated significantly with aggressive acts. Race, age, childhood family structure, offense of conviction, time served on present and past offense(s), race relations, and current drug use are examined in light of the prior research on prison violence. The data reveal that both race and childhood family structure are associated significantly with female inmate aggression. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.