Nbadan
01-18-2006, 05:45 PM
Disputed Study: Rape Rare in Prisons
By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press WriterTue Jan 17, 5:22 PM ET
A bitterly disputed, government-sponsored study has concluded that rape and sexual assault behind bars may be rampant in movies and books but are rare in real life.
When inmates have sex, it is usually by choice, and often engaged in as a way to win protection or privileges, said Mark Fleisher, a cultural anthropologist who specializes in prisons and crime at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
He said inmates who cry rape are usually lying and looking for a transfer, money or publicity.
More:
.......Fleisher said he spent more than 700 hours interviewing 564 randomly chosen inmates at dozens of institutions across the country. He said he never met anyone who claimed to be a victim of sexual violence.
He said his findings were no surprise to him, though he admitted his conclusion "flies in the face of what everyone believes."
Fleisher said he found that inmates' sexual activity is not "routinely or overwhelmingly violent or aggressive" and sex is "engaged in by men and women who choose it." In his report, he suggested that what outsiders see as rape is regarded differently by inmates.
"Prison rape worldview doesn't interpret sexual pressure as coercion," he wrote. "Rather, sexual pressure ushers, guides or shepherds the process of sexual awakening."
Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060117/ap_on_re_us/prisoner_rape&printer=1)
http://www.stephenelliott.com/uploaded_images/story-745366.jpg
Tom Delay is breathing much easier today
By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press WriterTue Jan 17, 5:22 PM ET
A bitterly disputed, government-sponsored study has concluded that rape and sexual assault behind bars may be rampant in movies and books but are rare in real life.
When inmates have sex, it is usually by choice, and often engaged in as a way to win protection or privileges, said Mark Fleisher, a cultural anthropologist who specializes in prisons and crime at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
He said inmates who cry rape are usually lying and looking for a transfer, money or publicity.
More:
.......Fleisher said he spent more than 700 hours interviewing 564 randomly chosen inmates at dozens of institutions across the country. He said he never met anyone who claimed to be a victim of sexual violence.
He said his findings were no surprise to him, though he admitted his conclusion "flies in the face of what everyone believes."
Fleisher said he found that inmates' sexual activity is not "routinely or overwhelmingly violent or aggressive" and sex is "engaged in by men and women who choose it." In his report, he suggested that what outsiders see as rape is regarded differently by inmates.
"Prison rape worldview doesn't interpret sexual pressure as coercion," he wrote. "Rather, sexual pressure ushers, guides or shepherds the process of sexual awakening."
Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060117/ap_on_re_us/prisoner_rape&printer=1)
http://www.stephenelliott.com/uploaded_images/story-745366.jpg
Tom Delay is breathing much easier today