Survey of Sexual Victimization in Adult Correctional Facilities, United States, 2020 (ICPSR 39151)

Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Design View help for Study Design

There were four survey form types that were sent to the correctional administrators in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) (SSV-1), state prison systems (SSV-2), local jail jurisdictions (SSV-3), private prison and jail facilities (SSV-4), jails in Indian country (SSV-4), and facilities operated by the U.S. military and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (SSV-4). Each respondent provided data on the number of reported allegations of sexual victimization for either their entire systems, as was the case for state prisons and the BOP, or for their facilities, as was the case for jails or other correctional facilities.

Sample View help for Sample

A census was completed for state adult prisons systems, the federal BOP, military correctional facilities, and facilities operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement (ICE). Samples were collected of the four main other types of adult correctional facilities. A sample of 700 public jails was drawn from the frame of BJS's 2019 Census of Jails. There were 5 total strata with the largest facilities in each state and any facilities with an average daily population of 1000 or more selected with certainty and the remaining three strata selected facilities using stratified random sampling. A sample of 15 private jails were also selected from the COJ frame; a stratum of certainty units included facilities with an ADP of 1000 or more and a stratum of noncertainty units was selected using probability proportional to size (PPS) methods. There were 155 private prison facilities selected from an updated frame of the 2019 Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities (CCF). Facilities with an ADP of 305 or more were selected with certainty and the remaining non-certainty units were selected using PPS. A sample of 25 tribal jails were selected from the 2019 frame of the Annual Survey of Jails in Indian Country. Tribal jails with an ADP of 73 or more were selected with certainty and the remaining 16 were selected using PPS.

Private Prisons: All facilities were first sorted by ADP and a pre-determined cut-off (ADP greater than or equal to 305) was used to determine certainties-due-to-size units. The facilities remaining in the frame at this point were sorted by region (i.e., Northeast, Midwest, South, or West), state, and ADP, and sampled systematically with probability proportional to size.

Public Jails: Public jails were stratified into two certainty strata and three noncertainty strata. For the first stratum, the largest jail jurisdictions in 45 states and the District of Columbia were selected to meet the PREA requirement that at least one jail per state is selected each year. For the second stratum, all other jail jurisdictions with ADPs greater than or equal to 1,000 inmates were selected with certainty. The remaining jail jurisdictions on the frame were grouped into three strata. The cum-root-f method was used to determine the boundaries of these three strata based on ADP as the measure of size (Cochran, 1997). The Large ADP stratum included jails with ADP 281 to 999. The Medium ADP stratum included jails with ADP 92 to 280. The Small ADP stratum included jails with ADP 91 or smaller. The jail jurisdictions in each of these three strata were then sorted by region, state, and ADP and selected systematically.

Private Jails: Jails with an ADP of 1,000 or more were selected with certainty-due-to-size. The remaining private facilities were sorted by region, state, and ADP, and were systematically sampled with probability proportional to size.

Indian Country Jails: Facilities were sampled with certainty due to a pre-determined ADP cut-off (ADP greater than or equal to 73). The remaining facilities on the frame were sorted by state and ADP then sampled with probability proportionate to size. Facilities in Indian country housing exclusively juveniles were excluded from the adult sample.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

All adult correctional facilities in the United States

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

Variables capturing sexual victimization were divided between inmate-on-inmate and staff-on-inmate incidents. Incidents were categorized as nonconsensual sexual acts, abusive sexual contact, and sexual harassment. Variables asking whether or not various sexual acts are recorded by the facility, if they're substantiated, unsubstantiated, unfounded, ongoing investigations, and total acts are included. Average daily inmate populations of males, females, and total of all inmates are recorded, along with the facility type.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

All state departments of correction, the federal BOP, U.S. military facilities, and ICE facilities responded to the SSV. Of the active (facilities that were not closed or out of scope) private prisons sampled, 95% responded. Of the active public jails sampled, 95% responded. Of active private jails, 100% responded. Among tribal jails selected for the SSV, 100% responded.

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2025-01-28

Version History View help for Version History

Weight View help for Weight

Initial sampling weights are stored in the SAMPLE_WGT variable. The nonresponse weights are stored in the NR_FACTOR variable. Final weights adjusting for facilities who did not respond within strata - calculated as the product of sampling weight, nonresponse weight, and active status indicated by a value of "1" - are included in the variable FINAL_WGT.

The label for the enumerated facility type or strata within the sampled types of facilities is contained in the variable STRAT.