Inmate Sexuality 311Donaldson (1990) describes another class of inmates called "queens.'* These are
men who exhibit homosexual patterns outside ot the prison and thus exhibit sim-
ilar behaviors while incarcerated. They are typically effeminate and are always in.
the role of a receiver. The queens are usually pressured by the jockers to main-
tain the feminine role. They typically consist of a small percentage of the inmate
population. The queens often are separated from the other prisoners by guards in
order to provide protection for them and attempt to diminish homosexual behav-
iors within the prison. The protection is necessary because homosexuals may be
abused by the other inmates and correctional staff tend to believe that homosexuals
are troublemakers (G. T. Long, 1993).
Donaldson (1990) reports that a third category of inmates is referred to as
"punks." This category is typically larger than the queens, and the punks are consid-
ered to be the lowest class of inmates by other prisoners because they are forced into
playing the receiver role. They are usually heterosexual, yet they are often "turned
out" by other prisoners. This turning-out process typically involves rape, often gang
rape. Charles is an example of a punk who was turned out by gang rape. These
inmates are usually somewhat smaller and less experienced in the prison system.
They usually have been charged with nonviolent offenses and may even have come
from a middle-class upbringing. The punks will usually return to their heterosex-
ual patterns once released from prison, but may experience distress in the form
of rape trauma syndrome. However, G. T. Long (1993) reports that as a result of
being turned out, those who were heterosexual may prefer homosexual behaviors
once released from prison. In fact, all turnouts in one study reported to engage in
exclusively homosexual behavior after being released from prison, although they
were heterosexual before incarceration (Sagarin, as cited in G. T. Long, 1993).
As mentioned above, forcible rape exists in the prison subculture. It typically ex-
ists in a much higher percentage in maximum-security prisons because the inmates
are usually incarcerated for more violent crimes and less worried about the risks
involved with such prohibited behavior (Donaldson, 1990). Struckman-Johnson,
Struckman-Johnson, Rucker, Bumby, and Donaldson (1996) found that in a state
prison system, 22% of male inmates were pressured or forced to have sexual contact
of some type. Those who were victims ot forced sex stated that threat of harm and
physical intimidation were the methods most often used by the perpetrators. In-
mates' accounts of their turnouts reported that they were raped or "so completely
terrified by physical threats that they were unable to resist" (Sagarin, as cited in
G. T. Long, p. 155).
Those who engage in forcible rape do not need to worry about an inmate report-
ing them because there are serious consequences for informers in the prisoner sub-
culture (Donaldson, 1990). The Struckman-Johnson et at. (1996) study found that
of those males who had been pressured or forced into having sexual contact, only
29% reported the incident(s) to staff. In fact, often the sexual activities are engaged
in as a group with prisoners watching out for guards and deterring other prisoners
from the area being used (Donaldson, 1990). The Struckman-Johnson et al. (1996)