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Impediments Of Labor Contracts On Prison Administrators’ Response To Staff–Inmate Sexual Misconduct, Gaylene Armstrong, Dennis Longmire, Doug J. Dretke, Kevin Steinmetz

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Sexual violence in adult correctional facilities led to the enactment of the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act as one approach to reducing this form of institutional violence. The current study examined collective bargaining agreements governing correctional agencies to identify impediments that may impact administrators’ responses to sexual violence, specifically in instances of allegations of staff–inmate sexual misconduct. In addition, structured interviews and focus groups with correctional administrators and labor representatives were used to develop policy recommendations. Contract language and interview participants demonstrated that a myriad of cultural and structural characteristics of prisons as well as pragmatic considerations may serve to …