RT Article
T1 Prison Violence, Gender, and Perceptions: Testing a Missing Link in Discretion Research
JF American journal of criminal justice
VO 37
IS 2
SP 209
OP 228
A1 Bierie, David M.
LA English
YR 2012
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764199898
AB Criminal justice literature often suggests female social control agents (e.g., police, prison staff, and others) use force less often than male colleagues facing similar situations. Most explain this with reference to personal or social factors which are gendered, arguing role-pressures or differences in skill sets between men and women lead to different reactions by agents. However, part of the story may also be about assessment rather than reaction—men and women may diverge in how they recognize and interpret cues in some (particularly minor) violence situations. Testing this, survey data was drawn from a random sample of 2,077 staff working in all 112 Federal Prisons operating in 2005. By estimating fixed effects models (grouped on prison), as well as controlling for correlates of exposure within a given prison, male and female staff were compared with respect to their assessment of statistically similar violence events. The data showed that women assessed fewer minor assault events to have occurred than their male colleagues, yet the same number of serious violence events. This supports the argument that perceptions may play an important role in explaining gender differences in the use of discretion.
K1 Federal Bureau of Prisons
K1 sexual assault
K1 Assault
K1 Inmates
K1 Correctional Staff
K1 Discretion
K1 Perception
K1 Gender
K1 Prison
DO 10.1007/s12103-011-9123-5