My research example for this week comes from the Bureau of Justice Statistics published by the U.S. Department of Justice. It is a national inmate survey taken from 2011-2012  titled “Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates”. The report includes demographic data and reports of acts and behavior. This is the BJS third National Inmate Survey taken in 233 state and federal prisons, 358 jails, and 15 special confinement facilities operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Military. The survey was administered to 92,449 inmates age 18 or older, including 38,251 inmates in state and federal prisons, 52,926 in jails, 573 in ICE facilities, 539 in military facilities, and 160 in Indian country jails. The NIS is part of the National Prison Rape Statistics Program, which collects reported sexual violence from administrative records and allegations of sexual victimization directly from victims in the form of surveys of inmates in prisons and jails and of youth held in juvenile correctional facilities. Surveys consisted of an audio computer- assisted self-interview (ACASI) in which inmates used a touchscreen to interact with a computer-assisted questionnaire and followed audio instructions delivered via headphones. Some inmates completed a short paper form instead of using the ACASI. One weakness of the survey was that some inmates may not report sexual victimization experienced in the facility, despite efforts of survey staff to assure inmates that their responses would be kept confidential. The results showed that staff sexual misconduct was a prevalent issue in women’s prisons and provided insightful and useful information for my research, but failed to mention the gender of the prison staff as a variable in the investigation.

Beck, A. J., Berzofsky, M., Caspar, R., & Krebs, C. (2013). Sexual victimization in prisons and jails reported by inmates, 2011–12. Retrieved from http://www.bjs. gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri1112.pdf