Inmate harassment and rape: an exploratory study of seven maximum- and medium-security male prisons in Israel.
Prisons deprive male inmates of heterosexual relationships and thus prevent them from asserting their masculinity via "traditional" means. Accordingly, many prisoners experience extreme emotional, psychological, and physical distress, which turns several of them to intimidation, aggression, and re-establishment of their sense of dominance through homosexual activities with coerced partners. This study, based on 760 hours of phenomenological semi-structured interviews undertaken in a random sample of 1.5% of the male prisoner population in Israel, analyzes the neglected issue of homosexual rape in Israeli prisons. The study finds that (a) sexual harassment or homosexual rapes rarely take place in Israeli prisons and (b) Israeli inmates view homosexual rape in prison as disgusting and disgraceful and conceptualize it in highly negative emotional terms.
Einat
Tomer
T
Department of Criminology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan Kinneret Academic College on the Sea of Galilee, Ramat-Gan, Israel. tomere@yvc.ac.il
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D001290:Attitude; D003068:Coercion; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004291:Dominance-Subordination; D005783:Gender Identity; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011330:Prisons; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012637:Security Measures; D017406:Sexual Harassment / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012927:Social Control, Informal