No Escape

By guest poster Gary Farber.

Prison rape jokes abound every time a heinous trial or crime is in the news. 

I don't need to repeat any: you've heard them.  Heh, heh, I'm not going to feel sorry for that mass murderer/rapist/con artist/thief, and what's coming to him.

Of course, few of us think we'll ever wind up in jail, let alone prison, and most of us won't. 

Prison rape is what happens to The Other. 

Which is where the laughing and the righteous vengeance arise: it's not so funny if you imagine yourself, or one of your loved ones, trapped in an injustice system, unjustly thrust into captivity, and subject to brutal sexual and violent abuse.

Last week, the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics released a report: Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2008-09.

As you imagine, it's not enjoyable reading. 

[...]

Highlights include the following:

• An estimated 4.4% of prison inmates and 3.1% of jail inmates reported experiencing one or more incidents of sexual victimization by another inmate or facility staff in the past 12 months or since admission to the facility, if less than 12 months.
• Female inmates in prison (4.7%) or jail (3.1%) were more than twice as likely as male inmates in prison (1.9%) or jail (1.3%) to report experiencing inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization.
• Among inmates who reported inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization, 13% of male prison inmates and 19% of male jail inmates said they were victimized within the first 24 hours after admission, compared to 4% of female inmates in prison and jail.

Moreover: 

An estimated 88,500 inmates—64,500 in prison and 24,000 in jails—reported experiencing one or more incidents of sexual victimization by another inmate or facility staff during 2008-09.

[...] Among victims of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization, 37 percent of males in jail and 21 percent of males in prison reported being injured. Among females, eight percent in jail and 17 percent in prison reported being injured. For victims of staff sexual misconduct, 17 percent of males in jail and nine percent of males in prison reported they had been injured, compared to eight percent of females in jail and 19 percent of females in prison.

Sure, but some of this is inevitable, you say? No.

[...] In 2003, Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) aimed at confronting the scourge of sexual abuse in our prisons, jails and youth detention centers.

[...]

After nearly five years and two public comment periods, the commission submitted its recommended national standards to Attorney General Eric Holder last year.

Under the law, Attorney General Holder had a year to issue final standards. That deadline was June 23, 2010. But he missed it. In the 64 days since the attorney general failed to meet his deadline, thousands of adults and kids have been subjected to sexual abuse behind bars. It now seems that no final standards will be released before 2011. Meanwhile, the number of victims continues to grow. And the human costs are incalculable.

These are standards that can be put into place now.

Monday.

Meanwhile, the problem is worse than you think:

[...] The BJS numbers don’t include thousands who we know are sexually abused in juvenile detention and other kinds of corrections facilities every year, nor do they account for the constant turnover among jailed detainees. Stays in jail are typically short, and several times as many people pass through jail in a year as are held there on any given day. Overall, we can confidently say that well over 100,000 people are sexually abused in American detention facilities every year. [...] Even more concerning is that Mr. Holder has commissioned no study of the benefits of reducing prisoner rape; nor, apparently, does he plan to. Yet as a brief submitted to the Department of Justice by New York University Law School’s Institute for Policy Integrity makes clear, “substantial additional costs” can only be understood in relation to the standards’ projected benefits. Moreover, Mr. Holder is legally obligated to analyze the costs and the benefits of the new standards together: he cannot give greater emphasis to one half of the calculation than the other. By failing to perform proper analysis, the Attorney General is delaying the reform mandated by a unanimous Congress in passing PREA—and he has already missed his statutory deadline for issuing a final rule on the standards by more than two months.

But why should I care for monsters, rapists, mass murders, and other scum, you ask? Setting aside that many people in prison are innocent, it costs you money as a taxpayer:

[...] The Washington Department of Corrections estimates that the cost of providing mental health treatment for victims of prisoner rape or sexual assault—which is different from immediate medical care—is approximately $9,700 per victim. Neither category of care includes treatment for HIV, Hepatitis C, and other sexually transmitted infections, which are of course spread by prisoner rape and also impose great costs on prison health services. Making our prisons and jails safer should have a positive effect generally on the mental health problems that are endemic there. And reducing prisoner rape would also lower the number of suicides and unwanted pregnancies in our prison systems.

In California, for example, it costs an additional $14,600 per year to house a prisoner in administrative segregation. And how great is our country?

[...] Today, more than a million children in this country have at least one incarcerated parent.

We can do a great deal to cut back drastically on prison rape. Implement the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) recommendations. Now. Will it make a difference?

[...] But as Jason DeParle wrote in these pages three years ago, “Since 1980 the murder rate inside prisons has fallen more than 90 percent, which should give pause to those inclined to think that prisons are impossible to reform.”

If you'd like to read some more -- and isn't that a fun way to spend Labor Day weekend? -- try The Rape of American Prisoners by David Kaiser and Lovisa Stannow in the March 11, 2010 issue of The New York Review Of Books, and March 25th's The Way to Stop Prison Rape by Lovisa Stannow and David Kaiser.

On March 15th, 2010:

[...] Testifying before a House subcommittee, Attorney General Holder said, “We want to effect substantive, real change, so that the horrors that too often are visited upon people in our prisons [are] eliminated…. It is something that I think needs to be done, not tomorrow, but yesterday.”

Do it this week, General Holder.

by Gary Farber, guesting for Eric Martin.

Comments

[Gary Farber]

Also fun reading: Human Rights Watch's 2001 report on male prison rape.

I'll try for a less downbeat post tomorrow, ok?

[paul lukasiak]

correct me if I'm wrong, but these numbers don't show the real extent of the problem, because they only include rape that has been reported by the victim to the authorities. Its likely that far more sexual assault goes unreported because of shame and/or fear of retaliation, and/or the lack of a response by prison authorities.

[Gary Farber]

Oh, yes, I meant to mention the problem of under-reporting, but I was also striving to not go overlong on a post that's already on a repellent topic and heavy with numbers and official reportese.

In any case, sure, obviously lots of assaults go unreported because those reporting typically aren't protected; this can be changed for the better.

Obviously, nobody is going to be stopping all prison assaults and rapes. But we can lower the occurrence a great deal.

Of course, the problems of our overall justice system are systemic and constitute a crime of the worst sort.

Meanwhile, last year: Netherlands to close prisons for lack of criminals.

[Gary Farber]

And, as I mentioned: "The BJS numbers don’t include thousands who we know are sexually abused in juvenile detention and other kinds of corrections facilities every year, nor do they account for the constant turnover among jailed detainees. Stays in jail are typically short, and several times as many people pass through jail in a year as are held there on any given day. Overall, we can confidently say that well over 100,000 people are sexually abused in American detention facilities every year."

Although there are lots of exceptions, and cross-contracts, loosely speaking, jail is where you get put when you're arrested, and awaiting trial or sentencing. Prison is where you go after you're sentenced.

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawnvj_fseW-7uEgu6TAB7t--t3_tGVrhsXU]

I joined a Yahoo discussion group awhile back, which I almost quit in disgust because one of the first posts I read included a -- yuck, yuck -- prison rape joke, and the poster refused to apologize for it, and most of the membership attacked me for my humorless attitude.

It did, in the end, have a beneficial outcome, and I think all parties involved saw things more clearly afterward, but it was very disturbing to see so many people I had thought of as intelligent and thoughtful and compassionate run into a brick wall when it came to thinking about prison rape.

[Gary Farber]

Yeah, it's one of those issues and dynamics where one will walk into, metaphorically or literally, a conversation undergoing a round of prison rape jokes,and one's alternatives are either to come across as a humorless putz, or to acquiesce in letting that sort of thing pass as acceptable.

Neither tends to leave one feeling good.

Of course, this is just a subset of the entire range of issues one has to make such conversational decisions about.

[Petermilley.wordpress.com]

"But why should I care for monsters, rapists, mass murders, and other scum, you ask? Setting aside that many people in prison are innocent, ..."

More to the point, I think, even the guilty people in prison didn't stop being human beings when they were convicted. It's a poor system of morals that only extends compassion selectively.

(To be perfectly clear, I'm not suggesting Gary Farber thinks guilty people in prison aren't worthy of compassion. I have, however, met enough people online who do...usually self-proclaimed Christians, which is extra-special ironic...that I think the point is worth mentioning.)

[someotherdude]

Way to come back Gary!

I think many people are naïve or total denial about the way prison’s power structures are organized.

It is a myth, that child rapist will be placed on the bottom of the “social structure”. The smallest and weakest men will be placed on the bottom and most child rapist tend to be weak and small. Or men with no prior relationships with prison gangs. However, if the child rapist is a big powerful imposing man or/and with relationships with influential gangs, he will be treated with the deference that position demands.

I think our culture enjoys imagining a type of righteous justice existing behind bars, but the jail and prison systems reflect the culture, outside. Power and influence are what matters.

[JanieM]

Bye italics?

[minnesota phats]

Who do you suppose these men are raping and beating when they're not incarcerated? Statistics say that one in three women and girls will be beaten or raped (or both) in their lifetime. While it is crucial to expose and work against prison assaults, it's also important to address the larger issue in our society.

[JanieM]

Who do you suppose these men are raping and beating when they're not incarcerated?

From Gary's post:

•Female inmates in prison (4.7%) or jail (3.1%) were more than twice as likely as male inmates in prison (1.9%) or jail (1.3%) to report experiencing inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization.

That is, not all perpetrators are men.

[Gary Farber]

I fixed the italics! (Hey, it's not as if I'm familiar with this software.)

Hi, everyone!

[minnesota phats]

It's true that not all perpetrators in prison are male, although females are probably more likely to report sexual assaults.

I was agreeing with SOD that we need to address the issues in our society at large. When we hear about the violent sexual assaults of males in prison it really seems to clarify the experience of terror, pain, humiliation, subjugation, and life altering damage that is done to the victims in ways that we may not always consider when girls and women who are "free" are victimized. If we don't address it all, nothing will be solved.

[Turbulence]

Gary, it is great to see you here again.

What I don't understand is why prisoners who have been raped aren't entitled to cash awards from the government. I mean, they're prisoners. They can't leave. By definition. The government assumes responsibility for them. If the government refused to give them food or water or shelter from the elements, they'd be entitled to relief, right? But when the government prevents them from doing any of the things that might prevent sexual assault, surely the government then adopts some responsibility the consequences, right?

But putting aside small matters like justice and basic human dignity, I really don't get why governments don't view prison rape as a huge problem from a purely practical perspective. We like to imprison people for really long periods of time. Prison rape is an awesome way of infecting lots of prisoners with horrifically expensive chronic diseases. Diseases whose treatment we have to pay for. I mean, you'd think that some state government or prison guard union could throw together a study showing that if they increased the number of guards by X% so as to reduce the incidence of prisoner rape by Y%, they'd eliminate $Z billion of long term healthcare costs and then shop it around a state capital. I've given up on Americans caring about justice and dignity, but I'm still a little shocked at how pointlessly wasteful the whole epidemic is.

[243]

That is, not all perpetrators are men.

Surprisingly, at least to me, another highlight that Gary didn't include states:

Most victims of staff sexual misconduct were males; most
perpetrators were females. Among male victims of staff
sexual misconduct, 69% of those in prison and 64% of
those in jails reported sexual activity with female staff. An
additional 16% of prison inmates and 18% of jail inmates
reported sexual activity with both female and male staff.

[Bernard Yomtov]

Turb,

you'd think that some state government or prison guard union could throw together a study showing that if they increased the number of guards by X% so as to reduce the incidence of prisoner rape by Y%, they'd eliminate $Z billion of long term healthcare costs and then shop it around a state capital.

This is true if by "you" in "you'd think" you mean Gary, or any of a substantial number of other individuals, including me. If you mean "pretty much anyone," I don't think it's true.

I'm not trying to claim sainthood. But the fact is, as Gary suggests, that a large portion of the population does not care what happens to prisoners, and many even regard these assaults as part of the punishment. Hey, what do you want, country club prisons?

[jonybutter]

a large portion of the population does not care what happens to prisoners, and many even regard these assaults as part of the punishment. Hey, what do you want, country club prisons?

I'm sure you're right, Bernard, although I'd lean more toward the second point than the first: I think plenty of people *do* care, but not in a good way.

I would guess that sadism and 'whistling in the dark' (or desire, for that matter) are often tangled up together. I think people make prison rape jokes, or titter nervously at them, for reasons similar to the ones which compel people to, quite gratuitously, ridicule poverty or poor people. It may be a kind of a distancing mechanism: 'THAT can never happen to ME...right?'

It's the self-perpetuating 'genius' of a hierarchical, harsh capitalist (in this case) culture, with its atomization of the individual/family, that fear overpowers humanity; rather than looking up at who's repressing and ripping them off, people tend to focus downward, and furiously despise people worse off than them. So when *their* number comes up, they either don't see it coming, or react in a completely ineffectual, or incoherent, or even counterproductive way (like joining a Tea Party).

Also, those jokes are the one socially semi-acceptable way for putatively straight men to yak about both anal sex, and about rape itself.

[Slartibartfast]

Welcome back, Gary! Very good post. I haven't yet clickeed the linkees, but I shall before the weekend is out. It pleases me to see you writing in this forum.

In the meantime, everyone, please don't click on the name of the person whose typepad account is a URL. I don't know what happens, nor do I care to find out, but it may be something malicious.

[Witt]

Gary, bless you for taking the time and energy to write this out with such detail.

[Turbulence]

I'm not trying to claim sainthood. But the fact is, as Gary suggests, that a large portion of the population does not care what happens to prisoners, and many even regard these assaults as part of the punishment. Hey, what do you want, country club prisons?

I get that, but I expect government officials to try and save cash during budget crises. And I expect prison guard unions to advocate for policies that lead to more prison guard hours or pay. My point is: reducing prison rape incidence could be very profitable for some people....

[Hartmut]

I know that there are people that would consider prison rape stories as a powerful deterrent*. If people hear them they will try everything not to come into conflict with the law => less crime => less go to prison => less cost. I guess these are the same that consider capital punishment today as too 'humane' and thus not deterrent enough.

*used as such for example in a German anti-piracy TV/cinema ad.

[bobbyp]

Of course, the problems of our overall justice system are systemic and constitute a crime of the worst sort.

Agree. Sadly, it is a crime that has so far gone unpunished.

[Bernard Yomtov]

Turb,

I get that, but I expect government officials to try and save cash during budget crises. And I expect prison guard unions to advocate for policies that lead to more prison guard hours or pay.

Stop being rational. You're smarter than that.

I can see the union campaign now:

"Let's spend more money on guards to reduce prison violence and long term health care costs for prisoners."

That'll be a winner all right.

I think the solutions are:

1. A reduction in incarceration rates. That reduces the number, if not the rate, of rape and other violent acts. It also reduces crowding which, I suppose, will also reduce the rate of violence.

2. A change in the definition of the state's responsibility to prisoners. This likely will have to be judicially imposed, probably by some liberal "judicial activist," who decides that putting prisoners in predictably violent situations is just as "cruel and unusual" as inflicting violent punishments directly.

[Countme?]

I agree with Turbulence, but the political ads against such measures write themselves:

"Liberals say they want to "help" stop rape and assault among their criminal constituents in the prisons, but they really want to reward their public employee union thugs who will rape YOU -- the taxpayer!"

Then, some grainy black and white footage of a prison guard pushing a poor beleaguered taxpayer into a cell full of swarthy, vaguely Muslim-looking gangbangers and locking the cell door behind him.

Further, I suspect another difference between publicly-run versus privately-run prisons is that you get pretty much the same amount of rape and assault behind the bars of the privately-run prisons, but with lower overhead costs and fewer personnel.

Anal violation behind bars tends to gross out the American public, yes, but what will really stoke a tea party revival on the Washington Mall is if the anal violation is administered inefficiently and with too many highly paid bureaucrats standing between the violator and the violated.

[Hartmut]

I have no statistics at hand but from what I hear it is worse in many private prisons because they want to make a profit => save money => hire cheap, unqualified personnel and not enough of it in any case.

[Slartibartfast]

I think the problem is something like this:

A) I think it's pretty much a given that people with that petty criminals be rehabilitated by the prison system.

B) But some criminals, such as people who rape children, lots of people would like to see have what they think the worst possible punishment visited upon.

C) That an environment where B) can occur also pretty much runs counter to A) on a frequent basis doesn't seem to compute.

Speaking as someone who has rooted for B), from time to time, yet realized that C) holds, and also wants A), I have been guilty of holding mutually contradictory ideas.

[Bernard Yomtov]

Speaking as someone who has rooted for B), from time to time, yet realized that C) holds, and also wants A), I have been guilty of holding mutually contradictory ideas.

What's this?

A blog commenter admits to ambivalence and inconsistency on an issue under discussion?

Must be a historic first on the Internet.

[Algernon]

Related: Senator Jim Webb made a promising beginning to a campaign of some cpmrehensive prison reform, but his efforts seem to have stalled.