The Sexual Victim in a Coeducational Juvenile Correctional Institution

In this study of six training schools in a southeastern state, almost 10 pelcent of the residents are identified as sexual victims. They are usually fourteen- or fifteen-year-olds; they include both males and females as well as equal proportions of blacks and whiter. Simply in terms of their numbers, sexual exploiters in these training schools are frequently older black youths. Furthermore, approximately one-third of the se-xual victims exploit other residents. All evidence -including attempts to escape at every conceivable opportunity- indicates that sexual victims find their institutional experience very Painful. They do not feel close to staff, and, indeed, use every chance to express manipulative behavior toward the “keepers” who are anything but good “keepers” for them. Some sexual victims are able to earn some degree of respectability for themselves and to get off the bottom of the inmates pecking order by becoming aggressive towaid weaker peers. This coeducational state system is better in many ways than most juvenile correctional systems, but inmates do not feel safe and, in fact, are not safe from sexual victimization. The rhetoric of the juvenile justice structure which promises protection, care, and stability for youths under its care turns out to be a mockery in reality.