By Creaig A. Dunton, Hayden P. Smith, and Frank Ferdik

Unanimously passed by Congress in 2003, the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was designed to eradicate sexual violence from the American correctional system. Although sexual victimization is a significant issue in correctional facilities, there are other urgent concerns that weigh heavily on the minds of those in custody. To understand these focal concerns, open-ended survey data were collected from (N = 852) incarcerated persons who were serving sentences in four state prisons located in the Southeastern United States during a period of PREA implementation. Respondents cited staff shortages, enforced lockdowns, low-quality food, and inadequate rehabilitative services as focal concerns. Incarcerated persons utilized the PREA prompt as a proxy to share their concerns about safety, climate, and institutional issues. Results are discussed with reference to best practices for improving conditions of confinement to create safe carceral facilities.

By Colette Marcellin and Evelyn F. McCoy 

Sexual violence in US correctional facilities is a long-standing problem that has gained increased attention in recent years. Many advocacy, human rights, and research organizations have called for action on this issue for decades, and in 2003, Congress took federal action by passing the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). PREA requires nationwide data collection and research about sexual violence in federal, state, and local correctional facilities, and established the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission to develop national standards for addressing this issue. Despite PREA’s enactment, PREA standards established in 2012, and growing national discourse about sexual violence in correctional facilities, many challenges persist. As of 2017, 31 states had not yet fully complied with the established PREA standards. Further, survivors of sexual violence, people with behavioral health needs, and people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ+) continue to disproportionately experience sexual violence in correctional facilities. Research about PREA’s impact and outcomes, survivors’ experiences with PREA reporting and investigation processes, and experiences with victim services is limited and should specifically examine the experiences of survivors with marginalized identities. Further research on this issue is needed and must incorporate strong protections for participating incarcerated people and participatory approaches that center their experiences and expertise.
Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2021. 17p.