The General Accounting Office made a report, per request of U.S Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton addressing the staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct in women’s prisons. The report focused on “the policies and procedures for addressing this misconduct,” in addition to, “the number, nature and outcomes of allegations in recent years” (General Accounting Office, 1999, p. 1). The report focused on four jurisdictions; the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the California Department of Corrections, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the District of Columbia (GOA, 1999).
While it is encouraged to maintain a respectful relationship between inmates and the correction staff, the professional relationship is crossed and even criminal when it becomes sexual, consensual or not. To deter …show more content…
Due to intimidation by members of the correction staff, sexual prison victims are afraid to speak out. The GAO states (1999), “Many correctional experts believe that staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct is likely underreported nationally due to the fear of retaliation and vulnerability felt by female inmates” (p.7). Equally, a study done by Michigan State University in the article Sexual Misconduct in Prison, found that “there are more than 80,000 prisoners annually who are sexually victimized during incarceration, yet about 8% report victimization to correctional authorities” (Sheryl et al., 2017, p. 361). Furthermore, another contributing factor to sexual misconduct by correctional officers is “stigma.” There are a lot of members in society who associate negative personality traits with the label “criminal” one example, “manipulative”. Rachel Culley in her 2012 article “The judge didn’t sentence me to be raped” indicated inmates feel stigmatized. Some assume that due to their criminal past no one will take their accusations seriously. (Culley, 2012, p.
While it is encouraged to maintain a respectful relationship between inmates and the correction staff, the professional relationship is crossed and even criminal when it becomes sexual, consensual or not. To deter …show more content…
Due to intimidation by members of the correction staff, sexual prison victims are afraid to speak out. The GAO states (1999), “Many correctional experts believe that staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct is likely underreported nationally due to the fear of retaliation and vulnerability felt by female inmates” (p.7). Equally, a study done by Michigan State University in the article Sexual Misconduct in Prison, found that “there are more than 80,000 prisoners annually who are sexually victimized during incarceration, yet about 8% report victimization to correctional authorities” (Sheryl et al., 2017, p. 361). Furthermore, another contributing factor to sexual misconduct by correctional officers is “stigma.” There are a lot of members in society who associate negative personality traits with the label “criminal” one example, “manipulative”. Rachel Culley in her 2012 article “The judge didn’t sentence me to be raped” indicated inmates feel stigmatized. Some assume that due to their criminal past no one will take their accusations seriously. (Culley, 2012, p.