Sexual victimization is defined as "all types of unwanted sexual
activity with other inmates, abusive sexual activity with other inmates and
both willing and unwilling sexual activity with staff." -B. Montopli
Not only is it alarming that sexual victimization is
happening in prisons and jails between inmates and staff members, but juveniles
are also reporting similar incidences. I decided to do an interview with a
probation counselor at the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center on the
issue of sexual misconduct in such facilities.
I started off my interview by giving
Mr. Allan a percentage of how many detained juveniles reported being sexually
victimized by a staff member at least once in the last 12 months. Allan felt
like the statement “sexually victimized” was too broad, claiming that many of
the juveniles in his facility feel uncomfortable during certain procedures that
may lead them to claim they have been victimized. One incidence would be during
a search. Sometimes, staff members must have the detainees drop their pants and
underwear to do a complete search for contraband. Because of his experience, he
doesn’t believe 8% is a high number of respondents reporting sexual
victimization.
From those who reported being
victimized, 9 in 10 males reported incidents with female staff. Allan
recognizes that all detention centers are ran differently and some have
stricter policies than others, but in Fairfax there is a system where a man
cannot be on a female unit unless there is another staff member present and
vice versa when it comes to a female on a male unit. Only time a staff member
of the opposite sex can be alone with a detainee is if her or she is a
supervisor. In his place of work, these numbers would be high, but he doesn’t
doubt that these statistics aren’t possible in other parts of the country.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Survey, the use of force or threat was present in only one of five
victims. Research suggest that female guards are more likely to establish
relationships with male detainees to build their trust. Allan believes that
this type of behavior makes male juvenile detainees less likely to report
sexual abuse or even consider it abuse. He says, “It’s unfortunate that incidents
of sexual abuse and misconduct happen in these facilities, a place where we are
not only detaining juveniles for something they did wrong, but are responsible for mentoring these kids, getting
them back on track, and preparing them for when they are released. In a perfect
world, to reduce this type of misconduct and abuse, it would be essential to
keep male staff away from female detainees and female staff members away from
male detainees. Because of different circumstances, such as limited staff,
resulting in a female member having to work on a male unit or vice versa, it’s
sometimes impossible to keep them apart. I will say, however, that these
facilities need to conduct more extensive background checks on potential staff
members”.
Allan believes that female staff
members are more likely to abuse male detainees than male staff members to
abuse female detainees. He argues that a female would have a higher likelihood
of telling other detainees about the sexual misconduct or abuse than a male detainee,
and this would increase the chances of a male staff member being caught.
Because of his experience working with people, he concludes that a male could
be tempted to engage in some form of sexual misconduct with a detainee, but is
less likely to act on it because the chances of him getting caught would be too
high and not worth the consequences.
At the Fairfax Juvenile Detention
Center, an applicant must have a degree or in the process of finishing up his
or her degree. This can be a degree in criminal justice, criminology,
sociology, psychology, etc. As previously mentioned, not only is a juvenile
detention center a jail, but essentially staff members are juvenile counselors
and mentors. One must be able to build a rapport with the juveniles, be
“semi-physically fit”, have “tough skin”, and be able to take care of the
residents (providing them with necessities, such as food, clean clothes,
medication, etc.).
Allan isn’t aware of any type of
seminars that help teach how to detect sexual misconduct in the facility, but
his supervisors stress the issue of sexual misconduct and how there is a zero
tolerance for such behavior in the workplace, especially with a resident. The
Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 was put into effect to develop standards
for detention, prevention, reduction, and punishment of prison rape. Allanbelieves that issues of sexual misconduct and abuse in correctional agencies
have somewhat been swept under the rug. Most institutions don’t want such
allegations and incidents to leak out to the public, but if there is a leak,
most agencies will suspend the abuser without pay or fire them, depending on
the severity of the allegations and how much can be proven.
Regardless to the measures, something
has to be done with the issue of sexual victimization in correctional
institutions. Not only are inmates being victimized, but what do these
incidences say about our criminal justice system? Many juveniles in detention
centers have parents who expect the staff members to take care of their
children as well as rehabilitate them. If these people working in these
facilities are abusing their authority and engaging in sexual misconduct with
their children, a lack of trust for the system will arise. According to
Montopoli, both Florida and New York had three facilities with high incidences
of staff sexual victimization, more than any other state. In these two states,
I wonder how the parents of children in these facilities feel about the system.
