An Exploratory Factor Analysis of a Prison Rape Elimination Act Survey in a Women's Prison

• Author: Margaret E. Shippen,Nicholas C. Derzis,Angela Hall,Sharon Weaver
• Published date: 01 September 2022
• Date: 01 September 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00328855221109818
• Subject Matter: Articles

An Exploratory Factor

Analysis of a Prison Rape

Elimination Act Survey

in a Women’s Prison

Margaret E. Shippen

1

,

Nicholas C. Derzis

1

, Angela Hall

2

,

and Sharon Weaver

3

Abstract

Even with the dramatic increase in the number of female inmates in state and

federal correctional institutions in recent decades, the criminal justice sys-

tem continues to develop policies based on empirical research from male

inmate programming. A shift in focus toward gender-responsive program-

ming is challenging corrections to address women’s needs. This study’s

data are a result of a settlement agreement between the United States

Department of Justice (USDOJ) and a state Department of Corrections

(DOC) to explore female inmates’perceptions of sexual and physical safety

in the state’s largest correctional faculty. The Prison Rape Elimination Act

Survey Instrument (PSI) was designed with 15 categories and 76 questions,

including demographic data, sexual and physical safety factors, and items

related to programs. Results of the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) indicate

that the instrument has four factors detecting 41% of the variance explained.

Recommendations are to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to

assure that the instrument is psychometrically sound and the factors are

verified.

1

Auburn University, Auburn, Al, USA

2

Alabama State University, Montgomery, Al, USA

3

Troy University, Troy, Al, USA

Corresponding Author:

Margaret E. Shippen, Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling, Auburn

University 2084 Haley Center, Auburn, Al, 36849, USA.

Email: shippme@auburn.edu

Article

The Prison Journal

2022, Vol. 102(4) 474–492

© 2022 SAGE Publications

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00328855221109818

journals.sagepub.com/home/tpj

Keywords

female inmates, Prison Rape Elimination Act, perceptions of safety, factor analysis

Introduction

Although many more men are in prison than women, the rate of growth for female

imprisonment has been almost five times higher than that of men since 1980 (The

Sentencing Project, 2022). According to the Sentencing Project, women are more

likely than men to be incarcerated for a drug or property offense. The typical

female offender is poor, uneducated, African-American, likely on welfare, and

the sole caretaker of minor children (Bloom et al., 2003; King & Foley, 2014).

Women’s imprisonment presents a major social problem, as it places pressure

on social services and traumatizes the children left behind. Currently, The

Prison Policy Institute finds mothers constitute 58% of state prison and 80% of

jail populations (Sawyer & Bertram, 2022).

While the number of women in correctional settings grew significantly

prior to the pandemic, state and federal correctional agencies continued to

ignore the context of these women’s lived experiences and the reality of

their needs. Moreover, the need to address physical and sexual safety of incar-

cerated women is federally mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act

(2003).

Prison Rape Elimination Act

In 2003, the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed unanimously

in Congress. PREA represents a broad commitment to zero tolerance for

sexual assault and rape “in any confinement facility of a federal, state or

local government whether operated by such a government or by a private

organization to include local jails, police lockups and juvenile facilities”

(Halley, 2005, p. 30). The Act defines “prison rape”broadly. It does not dif-

ferentiate between inmate-on-inmate and staff-on-inmate sexual assault; it

confronts both problems. Additionally, it does not discriminate across

gender, but addresses all sexual assaults, regardless of the gender of the per-

petrator or victim. Section 10 of PREA defines rape as: "the carnal knowl-

edge, oral sodomy, sexual assault with an object or sexual fondling of a

person, forcibly or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the

person’s will, where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of

his or her youth or his or her temporary or permanent mental or physical inca-

pacity; or the carnal knowledge, oral sodomy, sexual assault with an object, or

sexual fondling of a person achieved through the exploitation of the fear or

Shippen et al. 475