Examining Predictors of Differential Attitudes toward Reporting Sexual Assault among Incarcerated Women

ABSTRACT

This study examines how attitudes toward in-prison sexual assault reporting have changed over time. Further, we examine factors that influence the willingness of incarcerated women to advise reporting in-prison sexual assaults. Responses from two cross-sectional samples taken ten years apart with 814 incarcerated women are examined. Findings suggest that women surveyed in 2016 were less likely than those surveyed in 2005 to advise the immediate report of a sexual assault. Factors such as age, sexual orientation, violent offense, and perceptions of safety were significant predictors of reporting behaviors. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Prisons
• sexual assault
• victimization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. These differences are driven primarily by the fact that the initial survey (2005) included 30 women identified as being in close custody or maximum-security supervision. Bivariate correlations were conducted which suggested that alone, custody level did not significantly impact attitudes toward reporting sexual assault. Further, there were no significant differences in outcomes when the primary analysis in this paper was conducted both with and without those who were supervised at maximum and close custody levels. Considering this, the authors made the decision to present the final analysis with the full sample of incarcerated women to maintain a larger sample size.

2. Conversely, a binary logistic regression model was incorporated to cross-validate the given findings and is presented in Appendix A. Logistic regression modeling which combined recommendations to officially report sexual assault (report to staff later or report it to staff immediately = 1, deal with the assault privately or seek support from other friends = 0) was performed and was largely consistent with findings from the provided ordinal logistic regression.

3. See Appendix B for a more in-depth description of the AME of each variable at each given outcome.

4. In the logistic regression presented in the current project, custody-level was found to be a significant predictor of recommending the reporting of sexual assault. However, when ordinal logistic regression modeling was conducted, custody-level was no longer found to be a significant correlate of reporting behavior.

5. Tables and information regarding interaction effect models are available upon request.

6. It is important to note that Kubiak and colleagues’ (2017) findings may be limited as the authors drew from a sample of 809 women who were engaged in a class action lawsuit for sexual misconduct against the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Additional information

Funding

The research contained in this document was coordinated in part by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (Research Agreement #716-AR14). The contents of this document reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.