314 11 Corrections and Prison Practices—Civic Forensics
than that in the total United States' population. If prisoners are engaging in a
prohibited activity, then it is highly unlikely that they are participating in it safely.
Some type of policy must be developed to provide inmates the means to engage
in safe sex. It would be next to impossible to ensure that inmates abandoned their
sexual behaviors, so instead of pretending that it does not exist, policies need to be
developed to ensure that it occurs safely.
Another consideration that should be examined is the provision of counseling
for inmates raped and sexually assaulted. These prisoners most likely do not want
to come forth and discuss their experiences, so measures should be taken to ensure
confidentiality. The trauma that one experiences after being raped is considerable,
and ignoring the consequences could lead to future acting-out behaviors by those
victimized. The inmate code regarding informants is probably too strong for those
who have been raped to ignore it. Policies need to be developed, allowing these
inmates into protective housing without needing to inform the staff who sexually
assaulted them.
Regarding transsexual inmates, formal policies must be enacted in each prison
for handling these cases. R. Smith (1995) suggests that it is important to house the
prisoner based on what the genitalia currently is. She suggests other considerations
should include how long the inmate has been receiving hormone therapy, what
type of surgical procedures have been conducted, what the psychosocial needs of
the inmate are, and how long the person will be incarcerated.
Suggestions for Future Research
An area of research requiring attention includes effective methods for the pre-
vention of HIV in the prisons and jails. Effective mental health intervention and
treatment for inmates who have been victims of sexual assaults should also be ex-
amined (Struckman-Johnson et ai, 1996). It is important to understand what types
of treatments work for these offenders so that the impact of any trauma may be re-
duced. Another important area for future research concerns sexual relations between
prison staff and inmates. Attempting to identify what types of staff characteristics
are associated with such behavior could help in screening out these candidates at
the beginning of the hiring process. Thus, future psychological harm to prisoners
could be averted. Also, more in-depth studies of administrators' awareness of inmate
sexual behaviors and their responses to it would provide a better understanding of
exactly where officials stand on this issue and what needs to be done to educate
them on the effects of sexual assaults.