NCJ Number
139266
Journal
Forum on Corrections Research Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: September 1992 Pages: 31-36
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The Canadian Prison Victimization Project surveyed a sample of 117 Federal prisoners to ascertain the level of prison victimization. Six victimization incidents -- robbery, sexual assault, assault, theft, vandalism, and extortion -- were analyzed.
Abstract
According to the results, 55 of the respondents reported a total of 107 separate victimization incidents during the previous 12 months. While the most frequently reported victimization was theft, personal offenses outnumbered property offenses. Compared to victimization in the community, prison victimization was 250 percent higher, exceeding official prison statistics. While the responses furnished by inmates to the survey refuted the existence of a formal inmate code, there did emerge a set of informal rules of social control. The four most frequently mentioned rules were "do your own time," "avoid the prison economy," "don't trust anyone," and "show respect." These informal rules can work to unite the prisoner population, but they can also separate, isolate, and atomize inmates. An analysis of the interactions between the prison environment, informal rules of social control, and victimization rates showed that the rules are produced by the social dynamics of the prison and in turn act upon environmental factors to bring about conditions that perpetuate their existence.