Item Changes

Additional explanations for change requests to the National Inmate Survey, OMB 1121-0311

General explanation

The proposed changes reflect the effort to better address specific data requirements under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) related to vulnerable populations and facility characteristics that may contribute to differences in sexual assault rates. These changes are non-substantive in that we are requesting approval for a pilot study utilizing the residual burden hours from the Year 2 collection. Any proposed permanent changes will be submitted in a full information collection request to OMB prior to national implementation. All additions and deletions in the attached instrument have been highlighted in blue. The facility survey is a new document.

Following is a summary of the proposed changes and explanations for change:

1. I4 and A4a, pg. 2. These questions account for the inclusion of persons 16 and 17 years of age held in adult facilities which grant in loco parentis. Including these inmates is crucial in finding support for the assumption that youth held in adult facilities are at increased risk to victimization. In loco parentis is a necessary prerequisite particularly in jails due to the short lengths of stay and improbability of obtaining parental consent within this time.

2. Veteran status – Section V, pgs. 10-11. Vets from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are numerically increasing in the U.S. population in recent years, but we have no measure of their prevalence in correctional facilities because we usually collect this data in our regular inmate surveys, which have been put on hold as we collect the mandated NIS information. In addition, vet status could be related to a higher prevalence of mental health conditions, which in turn, could be increase risk of sexual victimization.

3. Section X

   1. Questions X1 through X5 regarding injuries (pgs. 46-47) were modified and moved to a different part of the survey that asks other questions about safety and security within the facility (Section S, pgs. 54-56).

   2. LCM4a, LCM7, and LCM8a (pgs. 47-48) were struck in response to respondent feedback that some questions were redundant.

   3. X6b-d, X7b-d, and X8b-d were added to gather additional information as to how often an inmate is in verbal or physical altercations with other inmates or staff. Year 1 data show a relationship between the reporting of such incidents and sexual victimization, but we don’t know if this is a positive association or not (as incidents increase, likelihood of victimization increases) since these were originally yes/no questions.

   4. X9b was added for reasons similar those stated above.

4. Section S, pgs. 52-57. These questions deal with perceptions of safety, security, staff, and facility management. Many questions were taken directly from the Bureau of Prison Social Climate Survey, which has been in use since 1988 and has proven to be a reliable source for measuring inmate perceptions. These questions cover inmate friendships and family contact, perceptions of crowding, privacy, and staff responsiveness, fear of injury, previous fights or assaults with inmates or staff, resulting injuries, prevalence of weapons and gangs in the facility, theft of possessions, and filing of grievances. All inmates will receive these questions, with the assumption being that facilities with high rates of victimization may also have other problems, such as crowding, staff issues, and other types of violence and victimization.

5. Section R, pgs. 58-80. This section covers questions on mental health issues and treatment. BJS staff worked in collaboration with several experts in the field to arrive at these questions. R1-R6 and R24-R35 go to all inmates and is intended as a screener (known as the K6 in the mental health field) and quick measure for serious mental illness and general treatment. R7-R23 and R36-R113 are for respondents receiving the alternative survey or finishing the sexual assault survey quickly and is intended to get more detail about specific conditions and treatment. Most respondents will answer a small portion of these questions, as there many skip patterns embedded.

6. Section P, pgs. 81-118. This section is on medical conditions and care/treatment. Many of the questions were taken from our Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities/Local Jails and adapted for ACASI use where necessary. Only respondents receiving the alternative questionnaire or completing the sexual assault survey quickly will see these questions. Again, most inmates will answer a small portion of these questions after answering the screener items that determine the skips for the remainder of the section.

7. Section Q, pg. 119. These questions, largely from the Washington Group on Disabilities, cover disabilities and will be administered to respondents receiving the alternative questionnaire or completing the sexual assault survey quickly.

8. Facility survey form – BJS has done some preliminary analysis on the correlation between some facility variables such as size, security level, and crowding and the prevalence of sexual assault. Limited information was gleaned from this analysis, but this may be because the facility variables were collected in Censuses from several years ago. BJS proposes to collect up-to-date information on facility variables that logically may be related to differences in the prevalence of sexual assault between facilities. There are many such variables that could be related to assault rates, but in order to minimize burden on the facility, BJS limited the form to 2 pages, which includes questions pertaining to the following areas:

   1. Security level

   2. Inmate count and characteristics (gender and race)

   3. Restricted population counts (administrative/disciplinary segregation and protective custody)

   4. Presence and degree of direct supervision

   5. Use of security technologies such as closed-circuit television, panic buttons, and GPS tracking for inmates or staff

   6. Number of full-time and part-time staff, specific characteristics of correctional officers (gender and race)

   7. Sexual violence prevention procedures

   8. Pat down/strip search policies

   9. Number of reported physical or sexual assaults on staff