The Extreme Sexual Victimization Histories of Women in Prison and the Significance of Race

This unprecedented research compared the self-reported SVs (sexual victimizations) of randomly sampled women in and outside of prison. Specifically, National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) Ohio data were compared with data the second author collected in Ohio women’s prisons. Consistent with pathways theory, all 15 SV measures increased the likelihood of being in prison, and this was true among both African American (Black) and white women for 14 of the 15 SV measures. We also found that childhood rape decreased both Black and white women’s likelihood of completing high school, regardless of whether they were in prison, and not completing high school was itself a decisive risk factor for incarceration. Consistent with social death theory, Black women were still more likely than white women to be in prison when controlling for high school completion, experiencing at least one rape, and whether raped before the age of 18. Support for the culture of dissemblance was mixed.