Risk Markers for Sexual Predation and Victimization in Prison

This study investigated the application of “empirically validated static and dynamic risk ma[r]kers for violence in the community to sexual predation and victimization in prisons” (p.2). Twelve chapters follow and abstract and executive summary: an introduction to the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and the study; methodology; the sexual behavior of incarcerated men and women; early life markers for sexual predation and victimization; violence and criminality as risk markers; sex risk markers; affective and perceptual states as risk markers; personality risk markers; structured and actuarial instruments for assessing violence risk; social environment risk markers; CHAID (Chi Square Automated Interaction Detector) classification for sexual behavior in prison; and conclusions and references. Many of the risk markers for sexual behavior in prisons are the same risk markers that predict violent behavior outside of prison. Sexual acts are “consistently associated with higher levels of threatened, physical, and relational violence within both the male and female institutions” (p.30).