NCJ Number
169183
Date Published
1992
Length
223 pages
Annotation
This Prison Victimization Project was designed to measure the prevalence and incidence of specified criminal victimizations within a sample of Federal prisoners housed in maximum- and minimum- security prisons in Canada.
Abstract
The project had three primary goals: to provide a more accurate estimate of the extent of victimization within the sample; to provide data on the nature of these victimizations; and to contribute to the theoretical understanding of victimization and reactions to victimization within the social world of the prison. Two chapters review the literature on prison victimization and victimization surveys as well as the literature on the social world of the prison. One chapter profiles study methodology, followed by an examination of the "inmate code." A chapter situates the informal rules of social control within the social world of the prison, with attention to the manner in which these rules are produced and reproduced within the social arena of the prison. Another chapter provides incidence and prevalence data on victimization, followed by a chapter that brings together the victimization data and the data on the social world of the prison. This chapter develops an initial understanding of how the social world of the prison is produced and reproduced over time and the role victimization plays in this process. It shows that victimization is built into the fabric of social relations in prison. The same processes that serve to limit conflicts in prison also encourage them. The final chapter provides a preliminary attempt to construct a theory of social control within prison and discusses directions for future research. 18 tables, 10 figures, and 57 references