Behind the bars: Contributing elements in institutional victimizations

There is an abundance of research on prison violence throughout the United States and other countries. However, there has been a lack of research evidence regarding the factors that trigger some of the violent episodes in prison environments. When there is a lack of information that could potentially put individuals at risk for violence or in many cases, victimization of various types, the issue may worsen and these incidents may continue to increase over time. This research study focused on some of the factors that individuals are exposed to prior to incarceration that may put them at a higher risk of victimization. The population of interest was adult offenders serving a sentence in state and federal correctional facilities. Archival data was retrieved from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, from their conducted research on correctional facilities and inmates throughout the United States. The purpose of this quantitative correlational research study was to determine whether or not there was a relationship with the exposure to these factors and a higher risk of victimization in comparison to those inmates who have not been exposed to these situations. The findings of the study showed a correlation between gender and institutional infractions, and between a diagnosis of PTSD, depressive disorder, or anxiety and institutional infractions. There were not enough valid responses to reject the null hypothesis between the different types of exposure to violence and infractions while incarcerated.