NCJ Number
224633
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 33 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 2008 Pages: 5-8,,32,34
Date Published
July 2008
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article presents examples of promising strategies to provide assistance to victims of prison sexual violence (PSV).
Abstract
Results found that States reported some effort to provide services to victims of PSV that addressed both safety and personal needs. Thirty-eight of the 45 States participating in the survey reported having procedural responses in place to address victim reports and victim safety. Of these, 33 States reported having established programs in place for victims to report incidents to department of corrections staff. Only 20 States had programs in operation to detect incidents of PSV. Thirty-two States had programs in place to protect victims from ongoing violence, and the same number had programs in place to protect victims from retaliatory violence. Forty of 45 States participating in the survey reported providing victim services. Of these, 100 percent of the States provided medical services to victims to address injuries. Ninety-eight percent provided medical testing for contraction of communicable diseases. Nearly all States provided inmates with housing unit assignment strategies to address concerns related to victimization. Thirty-seven States provide services to collect forensic evidence. Thirty-five States reported providing individual crisis counseling to help victims deal with the consequences of PSV. Included in the study are some approaches identified during the survey of promising practices and the case study site visits. Data were collected from the Survey of State Correctional Administrators; the Survey of Promising Practices; and case studies involving site visits to States deemed to provide the most informative lessons to the largest audience of practitioners, researchers, and policymakers. Tables, references