This study, sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), is exploring the incidence and prevalence of prison sexual assaults.

It is one of several studies congressionally mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.  NORC recently conducted the national survey, which grew out of a previous pilot survey.  For the pilot, NORC worked with BJS to address the sensitive issues of prison sexual assault among former state prisoners.  The sampling framework, protocols, and questionnaire were pretested in 16 parole offices with over 750 respondents.  To guard respondent privacy while collecting data on such a highly personal topic, the survey used a NORC-developed touch-screen audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (TACASI) instrument.

The national survey field work began in January 2008 and over 17,500 interviews of former prisoners were completed nationwide. During 2009, NORC staff will continue to prepare the data set, complete weighting activities, and upgrade information as requested by the client.