Victimization is common inside prisons and much remains unknown about the predictors of violence against incarcerated women. A sample of 564 incarcerated women was used to examine the link between in-prison victimization, childhood (physical, sexual, and emotional) harm, and mental illness. Nearly half or more of women reported childhood harm and over one-quarter experienced in-prison victimization. Childhood harm fell into four latent classes and low sexual abuse and high abuse classes predicted resident-on-resident sexual victimization, as did single types of childhood harm. Current depressive symptoms and perceptions of overcrowding predicted physical and sexual victimization perpetrated by residents and correctional staff.
Violence against incarcerated women: predicting risk through the lens of childhood harm
Citation:
Wolff, N., Aizpurua, E., & Peng, D. (2022). Violence Against Incarcerated Women: Predicting Risk Through the Lens of Childhood Harm. Violence Against Women, 28(10), 2466–2492. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012211035814