Assessing the Need for Gender-Specific Explanations of Prisoner Victimization

• NCJ Number: 248801
• Author(s): John Wooldredge, Benjamin Steiner
• Date Published: April 2014
• Length: 20 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: Maintaining Prison Order: An Evaluation of the Effects of the Detection and Processing of Inmate Misconduct Within and Across Ohio Correctional Institutions

Annotation

This study applied concepts from the relevant literature to an understanding of sex differences in factors that influence victimization risk during incarceration.

Abstract

The literature on differences in the incarceration experiences of women and men underscores the relevance of both background (pre-prison) and confinement factors for shaping inmates’ experiences during incarceration, but with a heavier emphasis on linkages between background factors and problems women face during confinement. In the current study, sex-specific models of physical assaults and property thefts were estimated for random samples of inmates from 46 prisons in Ohio and Kentucky. Background factors were more important than confinement factors for influencing assaults on women; whereas, both sets of factors were relevant for men. Both background and confinement factors were important for predicting theft victimizations for both groups although the magnitude of several effects varied by an inmate’s sex. Findings suggest that effective crime prevention strategies in prison may vary across facilities for women and for men. (Publisher abstract modified)