Study examines Nebraska inmate rape
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targets,” she said.
Male victims tend to be 20 to 35
years old, white and physically
inferior, she said.
Assailants tend to be large men
who have been convicted of a
violent crime and are serving a long
sentence, Struckman-Johnson said.
They have been in prison long
enough to work the system and
avoid getting caught, she said.
The victims are nearly helpless in
prison because the perpetrators have
the advantage. They have plenty of
time to plan their attacks, they can
get help from other inmates and they
can stage attacks almost anywhere,
Struckman-Johnson said.
The perpetrators used isolated
locations that were easy to escape
from like showers, the infirmary, the
library, the back of the kitchen and
the yard, she said.
In some reported cases, prisoners
attacked new cell mates within an
hour of their assignments,
Struckman-Johnson said.
Perpetrators get away with the
attacks because the prisons have
limited staff and can’t watch
everything, Struckman-Johnson
said.
“They just don’t have the person
power to do it,” she said. “There
might be as few as three or four
guards watching over several
hundreds of them in the yards.
“It’s an extremely big problem
for prison administration to deal
with.”
Accuracy?
Struckman-Johnson said she
presented her study to the Nebraska
Department of Corrections last May.
Since then, the NDC has discussed
ways to reduce sexual assault in
prisons.
Steven King, planning and
research director for the Nebraska
Department of Corrections, said
although prison administrators were
concerned about the findings of the
study, King said, he thought the
study was inaccurate.
He said many prisoners probably
lied on the survey and made up
accounts of sexual assault.
“We see a lot of inmates trying to
manipulate the system, and a survey
is an opportunity to do that,” he
said.
King referred to a recent incident
in which a prisoner was found with
blood on his face. He told medics he
had been sexually assaulted, but
later changed his story and said he
had been beaten up, King said.
Only a handful of reported rapes
are confirmed each year by prison
administration, King said. He said
the number of rape victims was less
than 1 percent of the 3,066-member
prison.population, not 12 percent as
reported in the study.
“Internally, we just don’t see the
level of sexual assault at the level in
that study,” King said.
Struckman-Johnson, however,
said her results were sound. The
only inaccuracies might have come
from the number of surveys that
weren’t returned, she said.
“I believe in the data that I got,”
she said, “What I question is the
data I didn’t get.”
She could tell survey responses
were honest by comparing similari
ties, she said.
“There were consistencies in the
way the whole picture fit together,”
she said.
Inmates had nothing to gain by
lying, she said, but risked trouble if
their perpetrators found out they
reported the assaults.
Her survey of 264 prison staff
members supported her results.
Prison staff, mostly security
guards, estimated the sexual
coercion rate at an average of 15
percent, Struckman-Johnson said.
“The staff agreed that it was
happening, too,” she said.
Prevention
King said prison staff took active
measures to prevent any sexual
activity and sexual assault.
“Our prisons are safe and secure.
It’s not like you see in' Shawshank
Redemption’ where the good guys
are behind bars and the bad guys are
on the staff.”
Inmates who have been assaulted
or think they may be a target can get
protective custody for as long as they
feel in danger, he said.
If inmates identify their perpetra
tors, administrators will keep them
in separate facilities for the rest of
their sentences, King said.
The perpetrator would be
punished with isolation or loss of
good behavior time, and the incident
would endanger his chances of
parole, King said.
The study prompted Corrections
Director Harold Clarke to authorize
a committee, led by King, to review
the prisons’ prevention techniques.
The committee, which hasn’t met
yet, probably would focus on more
orientation for inmates and encour
aging inmates to report incidents to
administration, King said.
“We try to do everything and
work to prevent it, period,” King
said.
Preventing prison rape also
would prevent a lot of the psycho
logical damage that the victims
suffer, Struckman-Johnson said.
She said after the prisoners left
corrections, the trauma of the rapes
could translate into violence against
society, particularly against men.
Many times, victims will break
up with their significant others or
experience marital problems after
release, she said.
Preventing sexual assault in
Erison would return mentally
ealthy convicts to society,
Struckman-Johnson said.
“There’s no question you’ll have
a better adjusted person returning to
society.”
The purpose of prison is correc
tions — to reform die individual to
society’s standards, she said. Sexual
assault in prison reverses that
process, she said.
“It’s the cruelest kind of assault
because it’s a violation of body and
spirit.”
For that reason, Struckman
Johnson said, inmate rape should
not be accepted as part of prison
punishment.
“When people are to be pun
ished, they are to be kept isolated
from society in uncomfortable
conditions,” she said. “Nowhere in
there is the concept that includes
torture.”
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Stressed out a bit?
Stress Management Group
Wednesdays, Feb. 7 - March 13,1996
2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Attention Students:
Spring semester distribution of Federal Perkins Loan checks
will be February 5,6 and 7 in the Nebraska Union Ballroom.
Hours of distribution are 8:30-11:30 a.m.
and 1:00-4:00 p.m. each day.
Students must present their student photo ID
to receive their check. Checks not claimed by
4 p.m. on February 7, 1996 will be cancelled.
Nearaska
is Iowa SI.
SATURDAY, February 3 12:45 p.m.
Admission:
B-ievel - $13.00
Padded c-level - $11.00
Plastic c-level - $9.00
upper Benches - $7.00