Understanding the Nature and Prevalence of Sexual Misconduct in the UK Prison and Probation Service

Sexual misconduct by prison and probation staff is a damaging behavior, both for the organisation and those in its care. The aim of this research is to identify and describe categories of behavior, and work towards a definition of sexual misconduct for the UK prison and probation service. A qualitative content analysis of 25 cases involving sexual contact between a staff member and incarcerated person was completed to explore the behaviors. With improved understanding of this behavior, findings can be used to develop interventions and investigation techniques to prevent this damaging behavior.