Prisoners’ Fears in Chinese Society and Western Countries: Personal Characteristics, Locations, and Fear of Victimization

• In Event: ACCCJ Chinese Societies, Law and Justice

Abstract

Prisoners also fear to be victimized. In this study, the researcher reviews the Western literature and wants to know the factors causing the fear of victimization in prisons in Taiwan. The environmental and individual factors are analyzed with the fear of victimization in prisons. The fear of victimization differs in the locations and prisoner’s characteristics. The data was collected from 21 prisons in Taiwan in 2011. The sample size was 1505 prisoners. The independent variables of environmental factors were five types of prison buildings and the eight locations. Moreover, the independent variables for individual factors were analyzed as well. The dependent variables were the prisoners’ fear of other prisoners and prison staffs.
Results show the diversities of victimization in prisons between Chinese society and the Western countries. Findings suggested that the administration of prisons should be aware of the prisoner’s fear of victimization in specific situations.

Author

• Meng-ru Shih, University of Texas at Dallas