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78 Prison J. 55 (1998)
Victimization and Youthful Prison Inmates: An Empirical Analysis

handle is hein.journals/prsjrnl78 and id is 56 raw text is: VICTIMIZATION AND YOUTHFUL PRISON INMATES: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ANGELA S. MAITLAND RICHARD D. SLUDER Central Missouri State University Prison violence researchers have traditionally studied older offenders housed in maximum-security institutions. The present study analyzes victimization data from a sample of young offenders in a medium-security state prison. Youthful inmates were most often the victims of verbal harassment and property theft. Conversely, few inmates reported having been sexually assaulted, extortedfor money, or had weapons used against them. In general, victims were more likely than nonvictims to be White, have higher levels offear experience more severely the pains ofimprisonment, and be less psychologically healthy. With dramatic increases in the offender population over the past decade, prison violence continues to be an enduring problem in facilities throughout the country. Official statistics show that in 1992, state and federal facilities reported 66 prison murders, with an additional 10,181 inmate-on-inmate attacks where the victims required medical treatment (Camp & Camp, 1993). These statistics critically underestimate the true extent of victimization because violence among inmates is customarily underreported (Hewitt, Poole, & Regoli, 1984; McShane, 1996; Reid, 1991). Contemporary penal institutions contain all of the essential ingredients for the precipitation of violence between inmates. Although linkages between overcrowding and violence remain less than clear, some studies suggest an enhanced potential for violence in facilities with inmate population pressures (Farrington & Nuttall, 1985; Gaes & McGuire, 1985). The vast majority of prisons continue to function beyond their operational capacity; in 1994, state prisons were operating somewhere between 117% and 129% of their esti- mated capacity (Beck & Gillard, 1995). A version of this article was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, March 1997, in Louisville, Kentucky. THE PRISON JOURNAL, Vol.78 No. 1, March 1998 55-73 @ 1998 Sage Publications, Inc. 55

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