ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how scholars promoted legislative responses and encourags the development of enhanced methodological research to gauge sexual violence and sexual behaviors in correctional facilities. Joseph Fishman paved the road for future prison sexuality and sexual violence scholars with his classic work published in 1934 about American prisons, entitled Sex in Prison. Fishman's contributions included a theoretical basis that postulated as to why same-sex relations occurred inside correctional facilities, which was termed the deprivation theory. Sexual relationships in correctional facilities can be seen as, and actually be, consensual interactions. Being involved in same-sex sexual relations, however, may also increase the likelihood of an inmate's risk of economic or sexual exploitation. Self-sexual pleasure is perhaps the most common form of sexual activity in correctional facilities. Implementation of harm-reduction strategies in order to promote pro-social behaviors inside correctional facilities is frequently met with much trepidation by policymakers.
