RT Article
T1 The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA): Snitching, Sexuality, and Normalizing Deviance
JF International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology
VO 68
IS 8
SP 849
OP 866
A1 Smith, Hayden
A2 Dunton, Creaig A.
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1889836796
AB The normalization of deviance in the form of prison rape finds common themes in media, rape myths, and common discourse. However, these portrayals fail to include real world policies and the perspectives of incarcerated populations. As such, the normalization of deviance is assessed in the context of the implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). A thematic analysis was conducted using qualitative survey responses from 407 males incarcerated in three medium-level security state prisons in the Southern United States. Surprisingly, respondents rejected stereotypical notions of sexuality (institutional deviancy) and snitching (cultural deviancy) surrounding prison rape. Rather, respondents favored standardized safety procedures and institutional responses designed to reduced risk, while also endorsing views that traditional snitching codes were not applicable to prison rape. This study provides implications for researchers and practitioners, particularly in the context of the implementation of PREA.
K1 Qualitative Analysis
K1 snitching
K1 Sexuality
K1 prison rape
K1 normalization of deviance
DO 10.1177/0306624X221113530