Conduct Outreach to state DOCs for planning for NIS-4 Prisons Collection

YEAR 4
2020–2021
IMPLEMENTING THE PRISON
RAPE ELIMINATION ACT
(PREA) OF 2003
NATIONAL INMATE
SURVEY (NIS)
FOR PRISONS

NATIONAL INMATE SURVEY
FOR PRISONS
How do I get more information?
For more information about Year 4 of the
NIS for Prisons, please contact:
Chris Krebs, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator
RTI International
3040 E. Cornwallis Road
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
(919) 485-5714
[email protected]

Under the Prison Rape Elimination Act

or

(PREA) of 2003, Congress mandated

For more information on PREA or on the
National Prison Rape Statistical Program,
please contact:

that the National Inmate Survey (NIS) be
conducted each year. RTI International
(RTI) and the Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS) successfully completed
the NIS in 147 prisons in Year 1 (2007),
166 prisons in Year 2 (2008–2009) and
233 prisons in Year 3 (2011–2012). BJS
and RTI are now conducting Year 4 of
the NIS for Prisons.

YEAR 4
2020–2021

NATIONAL
INMATE
SURVEY
FOR PRISONS

Amy Lauger
BJS PREA Program Manager
Bureau of Justice Statistics
810 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20531
(202) 307-0711
[email protected]

CONDUCTED BY
THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS
AND RTI INTERNATIONAL

NATIONAL INMATE SURVEY (NIS)
FOR PRISONS

YEAR 4 | 2020–2021

What is PREA?

• produce a report to Congress that includes “a
listing of those institutions… ranked according
to the incidence of prison rape in each
institution” and a “listing of any prisons… that
did not cooperate with the survey”; and

PREA (Public Law 108-79) is authorized under
Title 42 of the U.S. Code, Section 3732, and
serves the following purposes:
• Establishes zero tolerance for sexual
victimization within correctional facilities
• Makes prevention of sexual victimization a top
priority for correctional systems nationwide
• Develops and implements national standards
for detection, prevention, and reduction of
sexual victimization in correctional facilities
and for enforcement of PREA
• Increases available data, thereby improving
management of correctional facilities
• Increases efficiency and effectiveness of
federal expenditures

What does PREA require in terms
of data collection?
PREA requires that BJS:
• “carry out, for each calendar year, a
comprehensive statistical report and analysis
of the incidence and effects of prison rape”;
• use “surveys and other statistical studies of
current and former inmates”;

• produce data that can help facilities prevent,
detect, and respond to instances of sexual
victimization.

What are the key elements of
Year 4 of the NIS for Prisons?

• Inmates will be randomly assigned to receive
questions about either their experiences with
sexual victimization, or their childhood and
their activities while incarcerated.
• If approved by the correctional facility, a small
snack item (which will need to be consumed
during the interview) or a state Department of
Corrections (DOC) or Bureau of Prison (BOP)
metered envelope will be offered to inmates
as an incentive for participation.

• We will randomly select approximately 245
adult prisons, with at least one prison in
each state.

• For the first time, the NIS for Prisons will
include a short questionnaire to be completed
by a representative of each state DOC, BOP
or facility personnel.

• Within each facility, we will select a random
sample of inmates who are 16 years old
or older.

What is the next step for the NIS
for Prisons?

• Informed consent will be obtained from all
inmates who have been randomly selected to
participate in the NIS for Prisons.
• To measure sexual victimization within each
facility, we will interview inmates using audio
computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI)
technology, which uses a laptop computer
to allow inmates to see the questions on the
screen, hear the questions being read through
headphones, and answer the questions in
complete privacy by touching the computer
screen in the appropriate place. Each
interview lasts an average of 35 minutes.

Well in advance of data collection, RTI staff will
begin working with each DOC, the BOP and
sampled prisons to schedule and coordinate
all activities, as well as minimize the burden of
the NIS for Prisons on individual correctional
facilities.

When will the NIS for Prisons
occur?
Data collection for Year 4 of the NIS for Prisons
will begin in Fall 2020 and will continue into early
2021.