Staff Sexual Misconduct of Women on Parole: A Call for Trauma-Informed Practices and Policies

• In Event: Elaborating the Components of Prisoner Reentry Programs

Abstract

The Prison Rape Elimination Act attempts to address sexual victimization that occurs in correctional facilities and for those under community supervision. However, most training materials and research focus only on sexual victimization within correctional settings. Thus, this qualitative study explored women’s experiences of sexual victimization by correctional/parole officers that occurred on parole. A case study approach was used for this study’s examination of eleven incidents of sexual victimization during parole from a sample of nine women. These women were part of a larger class action lawsuit against a department of corrections for staff sexual misconduct. Several types of documents, including trial depositions and internal investigation files for each incident, were reviewed and analyzed using within, between, and cross-case analysis. Key factors were consistent across cases: abuse commonly started right before release from prison, negatively impacted women’s parole completion, and often went unreported by women. Officers offered tangible support and used women’s vulnerabilities for parole violation (e.g. offering alcohol/drugs). This abuse mirrored intimate partner violence in power dynamics. Women described unclear guidelines on reporting their victimization and a lack of responses when they did report. Trauma-informed practices and policies are needed that inform staff and protect women on parole.

Authors

• Gina L Fedock, University of Chicago

• Kathleen Darcy, University of Chicago

• Sheryl P. Kubiak, Michigan State University