Critical Issues - Abuse / Trauma
From: National Corrections Journal, 172879, April 1999
Bureau of Justice Statistics Selected Findings
Prior Abuse Reported by Inmates and Probationers
By Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D., BJS Statistician
In recent surveys completed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 19% of State prison inmates, 10% of Federal inmates, and 16% of those in local jails or on active probation told interviewers they had been physically or sexually abused before their current sentence. Just under half of the women in correctional populations and a tenth of the men indicated past abuse. The survey questions largely relied on respondents to define for themselves physical and sexual abuse.
For women, abuse as children more likely in correctional than general population
Between 6% and 14% of male offenders and between 23% and 37% of female offenders reported they had been physically or sexually abused before age 18. For the general U.S. population, prevalence estimates of child abuse vary, depending on definitions, types of questions, selection of study subjects, and response rates. A review of 16 studies estimated that for the general adult population 5% to 8% of males and 12% to 17% of females were abused as children.
Sources of data: In four BJS surveys--the 1997 Surveys of Inmates in State or Federal Correctional Facilities, the 1996 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, and the 1995 Survey of Adults on Probation--offenders selected through nationally representative samples responded to questions in hour-long interviews. These offenders reported past physical or sexual abuse, offense histories, drug and alcohol use, and personal and family characteristics.
Highlights
Prior abuse of correctional populations, by sex
Ever abused before admission | Total | Male | Female | Before 18 Male | Before 18 Female |
State prison inmates | 18.7% | 16.1% | 57.2% | 14.4% | 36.7% |
Federal prison inmates | 9.5 | 7.2 | 39.9 | 5.8 | 23.0 |
Jail inmates | 16.4 | 12.9 | 47.6 | 11.9 | 36.6 |
Probationers | 15.7 | 9.3 | 40.4 | 8.8 | 28.2 |
Physically abused | |||||
State prison inmates | 15.4% | 13.4% | 46.5% | 11.9% | 25.4% |
Federal prison inmates | 7.9 | 6.0 | 32.3 | 5.0 | 14.7 |
Jail inmates | 13.3 | 10.7 | 37.3 | -- | -- |
Probationers | 12.8 | 7.4 | 33.5 | -- | -- |
Sexually abused | |||||
State prison inmates | 7.9% | 5.8% | 39.0% | 5.0% | 25.5% |
Federal prison inmates | 3.7 | 2.2 | 22.8 | 1.9 | 14.5 |
Jail inmates | 8.8 | 5.6 | 37.2 | -- | -- |
Probationers | 8.4 | 4.1 | 25.2 | -- | -- |
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