NCJ Number
184797
Date Published
May 2000
Length
14 pages
Annotation
To follow up on its November 1996 study of staff sexual misconduct in prisons, the National Institute of Corrections undertook a project that focused on changes between 1996 and 1999 in related state laws and correctional agency policies and practices.
Abstract
A written survey instrument was mailed to 54 State, territorial, and Federal agencies responsible for administering adult prisons. Responses were received from 49 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. All but eight States had enacted statutes that prohibit staff sexual misconduct with inmates. The statutes typically defined sexual misconduct as either a misdemeanor or a felony offense. At the time of the project, at least 22 correctional departments were responding to litigation based on charges of sexual misconduct involving staff and inmates. Sexual misconduct cases brought against correctional departments since 1996 and reported in the project were generally individual civil cases rather than class action suits. Between 1996 and 1999, correctional departments implemented new policies, investigation practices, staff training, and inmate education efforts to reduce the incidence of sexual misconduct. Respondents from 37 correctional departments reported the outcomes of sexual misconduct investigations in 1998 in terms of staff who were discharged, prosecuted, or disciplined or who resigned. The factor most cited as the leading cause of sexual misconduct involved individual staff members who willfully disregarded policies and training. 3 tables and 1 figure