Prison Policy, Programs, and Change

Abstract

The patterns of sexual exploitation and sexual behaviour documented by our study are not new patterns. According to historian Jonathan Katz, the earliest recorded observance of sexual victimization and activity in a penal institution was, in fact, a letter dated April 12, 1826.²⁷ In that account, written by a layman to a public official, the author argued for the improvement of prison conditions for those inmates who had been “prostituted to the lust of old convicts.” Over 150 years later the situation in prison appears to be relatively unchanged (and unchallenged).