Why is male rape so rife in US prisons?

[The Stormbringer]

Cuz us men are all rapey rapists and without any women in prison, they turn on each other like a bunch of starving rats.

(This post sponsored by femfreq)

Shit! I was going to say something sarcastic like that.

[Independent voter]

The question is not: "Why do men rape one another in prison?" The question is: "Why does prison security allow it to continue happening?"

Prison officials will tell you that prison rape isn't as bad as prisoners will pretend it is. There have been some studies

In 2006, James Austin, Ph.D., and his associates at the JFA Institute issued findings regarding sexual violence in the Texas prison system,[9] the third largest prison system in the Nation. The researchers chose this system because it had the highest rate of alleged incidents (550 alleged incidents, for a rate of 3.95 per 1,000 prisoners); on the other hand, it also has one of the lowest substantiation rates (less than 3 percent). In studying the number and nature of sexual assault allegations in this system from 2002 to 2005, they assembled "lessons learned" to help reduce sexual assaults across all correctional systems.

Among their findings in Sexual Violence in the Texas Prison System:
•White inmates are attacked more than any other race. Nearly 60 percent of the 43 "sustained" incidents—those proven to be true by an investigation—involved a white victim.
•Victims are generally younger than their assailants. The average age of victims in "sustained" cases was 3 years younger than the assailants.
•Mentally ill or intellectually impaired inmates are more likely to be victimized. Although only 12 percent of the allegations involved a mentally ill or intellectually impaired prisoner, this percentage is 8 times the proportion of mentally ill inmates in the general prisoner population (1.6 percent).
•Cellblocks with solid cell fronts may contribute to sexual assault. Solid cell fronts, while permitting privacy for the inmates and reducing noise within the unit, also provide the degree of privacy that permits sexual assaults to occur. Unlike older prison designs, in which the cell fronts consist of bars, solid doors limit visual observation by staff and, to some degree, soundproof the cells to the point that staff have difficulty hearing what is going on in individual cells.


Congress passed some laws forcing prisons to track and report rape.

http://www.nij.gov/journals/259/pages/prison-rape.aspx

[minteK917]

child molesters gets raped and beat in prisons all the time even in canada.

[Sykol]

"American men are so manly that sex with women is like playing in the WNBA for them. The only thing that can pose a challenge is another man, but they're so equally matched and vying for dominance that every sexual encounter winds up as rape."

I read that in a textbook once.

[Halyon]

Because it's a crime of violence and dominance, not a crime of passion as some people tend to believe? And prisons being prisons...

[Yoshimiko]

We simply have too many prisons and there is practically no oversight on the prisoners. You can pretty much blame this ENTIRELY on the war on drugs and mandatory minimums. Get caught dealing cocaine to one person? 10 - 99 years and $10,000 fine.

Nobody likes mandatory minimums, but cutting them would be political suicide due to our cut throat re-election campaigns. It's a massive drain on the economy (~19500 in 2010 per person per year), it puts non-violent criminals away for at least 5 years, it doesn't actually solve any problems and it ruins peoples lives. America has the worlds highest incarceration rate and it continues to climb. We house 22% of the WORLDS prisoners. In 2007, it costs $74 billion. 90.7% of federal prisoners were incarcerated for non-violent offenses while 49.3% of state prisoners. Oh yeah, and did I mention a good amount of these are privately owned? Yeah, A LOT of prisons in America are entirely private.

So we end up with MASSIVE overcrowded, with almost no overhead and a corrupted criminal system that punishes honest people and rewards silence. Many, MANY prisons are privately owned and report to basically no one and in these prisons you're downright required to mingle with your prison mates. It's no real surprise that America has such a high level of violence in prison. When you're told you are NOT getting out for 10-20 years *AT MINIMUM* because you had a few ounces of weed on you...your life is over. What do you have to lose?

It's a shit system and unfortunately it's not going to be fixed any time soon.

[Moadar]

When you're told you are NOT getting out for 10-20 years *AT MINIMUM* because you had a few ounces of weed on you...your life is over. What do you have to lose?

It's a shit system and unfortunately it's not going to be fixed any time soon.

Never seen anyone get 10-20 for a few ounces of weed. If they did they also did something else to add to the sentence.

Prison rape doesn't happen nearly as often as people like to think. US prison isn't nearly as bad as people like to think either.

[Deleted]

Never seen anyone get 10-20 for a few ounces of weed. If they did they also did something else to add to the sentence.

Prison rape doesn't happen nearly as often as people like to think. US prison isn't nearly as bad as people like to think either.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-strikes_law

Basically getting caught with weed 3 times can get you 25 years, one would think you would stop carrying it after being busted twice already but it is still harsh.

[Xandrigity]

Perhaps correctional facilities should pass out fleshlights to everyone.

[yeto]

i would think is has to do with the time you are in prison

in Denmark you would go to prison for 16 years for a first degree murder - in us you would get life time for it

[Hotmail]

Perhaps correctional facilities should pass out fleshlights to everyone.

That shit can be homemade anyway. All you need is a box of pringles, some latex gloves and...

I think I've already said too much.

[kabalas]

=Immortan Rich;41142362]There is an old saying that you can judge a society on how they treat their old people, their prisoners and their pets.

Very true. If we had a realistic solution it would be great. Such a high combination of issues is why there is no simple solution. I do agree with that saying though you posted.

[TheCount]

The Boondocks, shedding light on the important social issues of our time

[THE Bigzoman]

"But We have sexual desires right?

So you got a bunch of mens locked up in one place. All of em get hard; all of em's hornin; all of em's got sexual desires so what dey gonna do? You won't let em have a woman. Dey gonna have each othe....somebody is going to have to give up some booty, and it's just that simple."


-Prime Bootyarch Fleece Johnson

[Deleted]

Risk vs Reward, if you sentenced to 20-30 year in prison (an eternity) and the risk of being convicted of rape is low and if you are convicted you still is locked up a "eternity"

Now if you are in a Northern European "welfare" state prison you are sentenced to 5-10 year, not a eternity but somthing you can anticipate, if you are convicted of rape you will get a noticeable extended time in prison, it still less then a eternity so you can overview it.

Since it is easier to see wives, girlfriends if you behave, like you can see them in "private social rooms" in prison or you can get temporary leave from prison motivates inmates to behave and not rape.

[Deleted]

I've always wondered why prisons didn't provide special facilities where inmates could go, view porn and masterbate in,privacy. It's kinda I humane to deny inmates sexual release.

it has ben mentioned before. US mentality is to punish, not rehabilitate.

[nonameelf]

Because US prisons are overcrowded because prisons are an industry in the US and there aren't enough guards to handle them all.

[Independent voter]

There is a very macho component among certain minority groups. These groups shun education because they see it as effeminate. And these groups fill our prisons for the most part.

I'm not pointing fingers you know who your are.

[Mihalik]

1, There's a weird cultural acceptance even perhaps encouragement of prison rape in the US.
2, Bad management.

[A Dark Knight]

always wandered about that myself, why would straight men have anal sex, risking aids ( most prisoners with drugs convictions carry the bug), just to release his sexual tension ? thats why masturbation was invited

- - - Updated - - -

Why care too much about what the prisoners do to each other though?


You don't want to make prison that cozy that people don't mind going to it. Which seems to be the reasoning behind a lot of immigrant (first or later generation) crimes.

i agree, but sometimes carrying weed can get you 5 years in prison, thats harsh.