Factors Associated With Sexual Coercion in a Representative Sample of Men in Australian Prisons

Very little research has focused on men or prisoners as victims of sexual violence. This study provides the first population-based analysis of factors associated with sexual coercion of men in Australian prisons, and the first to use a computer-assisted telephone interview to collect this information in a prison setting. A random sample of men in New South Wales and Queensland prisons were surveyed using computer-assisted telephone interviewing. We asked participants about sexual coercion, defined as being forced or frightened into doing something sexually that was unwanted while in prison. Associations between sexual coercion in prison and sociodemographics, sexual coercion history outside of prison, and prison-related factors were examined. Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios in examining factors associated with sexual coercion in prisons. Of 2626 eligible men, 2000 participated. Participants identifying as non-heterosexual and those with a history of sexual coercion outside prison were found to be most at risk. Those in prison for the first time and those who had spent more than 5 years in prison ever were also more likely to report sexual coercion. Although prison policies and improving prison officer training may help address immediate safety and health concerns of those at risk, given the sensitivity of the issue and likely under-reporting to correctional staff, community-based organizations and prisoner peer-based groups arguably have a role too in providing both preventive and trauma-focused support

Consensual sex between men and sexual violence in Australian prisons

Estimates of the incidence of sexual coercion in men’s prisons are notoriously variable and fraught with conceptual and methodological problems. In 2006–2007, we conducted a computer-assisted telephone survey of a random sample of 2,018 male prisoners in New South Wales and Queensland. Of 2,626 eligible and available inmates, 76.8% consented and provided full responses. We asked about time in prison, sexual experience, attraction and (homo/bi/heterosexual) identity, attitudes, sexual contact with other inmates, reasons for having sex and practices engaged in, and about sexual coercion, including location and number of perpetrators. Most men (95.1%) identified as heterosexual. Of the total sample, 13.5% reported sexual contact with males in their lifetime: 7.8% only outside prison, 2.8% both inside and outside, and 2.7% only inside prison. Later in the interview, 144 men (7.1% of total sample) reported sexual contact with inmates in prison; the majority had few partners and no anal intercourse. Most did so for pleasure, but some for protection, i.e., to avoid assault by someone else. Before incarceration, 32.9% feared sexual assault in prison; 6.9% had been sexually threatened in prison and 2.6% had been sexually coerced (‘‘forced or frightened into doing something sexually that [they] did not want’’). Some of those coerced reported no same-sex contact. The majority of prisoners were intolerant of male-to-male sexual activity. The study achieved a high response rate and asked detailed questions to elicit reports of coercion and sex separately. Both consensual sex and sexual assault are less common than is generally believed

Theory-Based Multimodal Parenting Intervention for Incarcerated Parents and Their Children

Parenting programs for incarcerated parents have become increasingly popular within corrections departments over the past several decades. The programs are appealing as they are thought to improve not only long-term prosocial outcomes and reductions in recidivism for parents who are reentering their communities after lockup, but also outcomes for their children. While some parenting programs have been shown to be effective in various ways, they may be insufficient to produce long-lasting, positive impacts for families with loved ones involved in the criminal justice system. We proposed that an expanded definition of what a parenting program is might be useful-a multimodal parenting program. Such programs address not only the development of parenting knowledge and the practice of parenting skills, but also the numerous contextual challenges that many correction-involved parents face during and following incarceration. Some of these challenges include inadequate housing, parent unemployment, parental mental and physical health issues, and conflictual personal relationships. We overview our work to build a multimodal parenting program for incarcerated parents and their families, and discuss the implication of such for future research, practice, and policy

Permeable prison walls: social relationships, symbolic violence and reproduction of inequalities

The upholding of family ties during imprisonment is inscribed at the intersection of contradictory principles and practices that coexist in prisons. On the one hand, in the last few years,there has beenan increasing recognition of prisoners' rightsin correctional facilities. On the other, organizational models that target controland punishmentprevail in prisons, sustainingseveral forms of symbolic violence, such as hampering contacts with loved ones. Based on this framework, this article focuseson the management of pre-existing relationships during imprisonment. Drawing on 40 interviews conducted with male and female Portuguese prisoners, it explores the uses, meanings and perceived limitations of correspondence, phone calls, and visits.Data show that most prisoners creatively negotiate relationships in ways that make prison walls permeable to the circulation of affections, people and goods. Nevertheless, this kind of endeavour outlines how prison walls are also porous to the reproduction of social inequalities that extensively challenge the preservation of social ties.(undefined