edwards chapter 2

Shaquanna Edwards

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

[Doctor of Criminal Justice]

Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA

A Transcendental Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Formerly Incarcerated Adults Regarding Sexual Victimization and the Implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (Prea) Of 2003 in U.S. Correctional Facilities

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003 is a historic federal law that aims to eliminate sexual assault in American jails (Pia, 2024). Introduced as a bipartisan law, PREA created a zero-tolerance approach to prison rape, and required national prevention, detection, and response standards to sexual victimization. More than 20 years later, sexual victimization remains an issue in prisons and jails, even with the extensive adoption of PREA standards. The dissertation is a transcendental phenomenological study of the lived experiences of former prisoners as adults in sexual victimization and the application of PREA in state prisons in the U.S. The study fills important gaps in quantitative administrative records and policy-oriented research by focusing on the voices of the immediate victims and providing trauma-informed insights, capable of enhancing correctional practices and policy change.

Sexual victimization in corrections covers various non-consensual behaviors, such as rape, sexual assault, and harassment by prisoners or employees. These experiences have far-reaching physical, psychological, and social damages, and tend to increase trauma, recidivism, and reentry struggles. PREA was also to break this cycle with the help of standard protocols, staff training, reporting systems, and facility audits. However, according to recent Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) figures, the prevalence remains high (Buehler, 2023). Though there are more allegations because of the better reporting mechanisms, the rates of substantiation are low, and there is still underreporting because of fear, stigma, and institutional barriers.

This chapter provides the background of the study. It gives some background about the historical and the modern context of sexual victimization in prison, the statement of problem, purpose and research questions, the importance of the study, the nature of the research design, theoretical framework, definitions of key terms, assumptions, limitations and delimitations. The chapter ends with a summary which leads to the literature review in Chapter Two.

Background of the Study.

Sexual victimization in the U.S. correctional facilities has a strong historical background that can be traced back before the beginning of the current reform efforts. The investigations of the mid-20th century, including the ones reported in congressional hearings and prison exposes, reported rampant abuse, but failed to include systemic federal action. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, public awareness rose, driven by the campaigns of anti-rape-in-prison groups such as Just Detention International (formerly Stop Prisoner Rape), and celebrity lawsuits. These efforts were eventually put to fruition with the unanimous approval of PREA in 2003 (Public Law 10879) (Pia, 2024). The main objectives of the Act were three-fold: (1) to gather a comprehensive data on incidence and impact of prison rape; (2) to create national standards to detect, avert, diminish and penalize prison rape; and (3) to heighten accountability of correctional authorities.

PREA mandated the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to have data collection activities annually, such as Survey of Sexual Victimization (SSV) and National Inmate Survey (NIS) (Smith, 2022). Such attempts have generated a steady body of evidence of the extent of the problem. An example is that, according to BJS reports based on the NIS-4 (202324), about 80, 600 inmates report sexual violence every year in prisons and jails, and both instances of violence between inmates and cases of staff misconduct are significant contributors (Grover, 2022). Data at state level also depict the variability: there are facilities with low substantiation rates that experience high allegations indicating the difficulties with the implementation instead of the lack of abuse.

The practice of PREA has been developed by the introduction of national standards in 2012 by the Department of Justice. These guidelines cover screening of inmates, training of staff, reporting, investigations, medical and mental health care, and design of facilities to improve safety. Certified auditors (compliance audits) and triannual compliance audits have resulted in quantifiable changes in policy adoption. Bureau of Justice Assistance funding has been used to fund training, victim services and improvements to the technology.

In spite of these developments, policy-practice gaps are still apparent. The effectiveness of PREA is usually diminished by institutional culture, resource limitations, and power disparities between the personnel and inmates. Underreporting has been a thorn in the flesh; research has shown that only a small percentage of sexual assault incidents are reported because of fear of retaliation, distrust in grievance mechanisms and victimization stigma (Griffin et al., 2022). Quantitative metrics alone are limited because administrative data on the SSV only report alleged cases, whereas inmate self-report surveys, such as the NIS, show that the prevalence is higher.

The current research is on the population of recently released former incarcerated adults leaving state prisons during the years 2015-2024- the entire duration of the PREA maturation after the introduction of the standards. This period will guarantee subjects were exposed to PREA-compliant conditions, which will enable the retrospective analysis of policy implementation. To improve internal validity and feasibility, state prisons were chosen to eliminate any jurisdictional differences between federal prisons, local jails, and juvenile systems. The recruitment will be made into community reentry programs and nonprofit organizations that serve the formerly incarcerated population, offering ethical and accessible entry points and reducing the risk of re-traumatization.

There is limited qualitative research on the topic. Current literature is mostly based on quantitative reviews of incident reports, compliance audits and administrative surveys. Though useful in trend following, these methods ignore the subjective, lived aspects of victimization and perception of policy. Phenomenological inquiry, based on Husserlian philosophy and operationalized in terms of transcendental methods of Moustakas, is the only methodology that can shed light on these essences (Mahar, 2025). The bracketing of researcher assumptions and emphasis on the descriptions of the participants will create the rich, textured insights of the experience of sexual victimization and the perception of PREA policies in the daily prison life.

The focus of the study on the former inmate’s population is ethically sound and methodologically beneficial. Prisoners are more exposed to the vulnerability of coercion and less autonomy, and adult parolees are safer and more open-minded to retrospective reflection. Data collection will involve trauma-informed procedures, such as voluntary participation, informed consent, and referral to support services. Ethical standards of vulnerable populations will be adhered to with the help of Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval.

Problem Statement

The issue is that even after more than 20 years of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was put into effect, sexual victimization still takes place within the U.S. correctional facilities (Pia, 2024). PREA was aimed at creating the zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual abuse in prisons and enhancing the prevention, detection, and response efforts. Nevertheless, the latest studies indicate that sexual victimization is a long-standing problem, which provokes a question of the efficiency of the PREA implementation in various facilities (Weaver et al., 2025).

The first concern is that the majority of the available studies are based on the quantitative data, including reported cases, compliance audit and administrative view. Though this data can be helpful, it does not reflect fully lived realities of incarcerated people. Research has also indicated that statistical reporting alone may have failed to capture other critical aspects like fear, trauma, and individual perceptions of safety (Wieberneit et al., 2024). Consequently, we do not have a more in-depth insight into the experience of sexual victimization and the role of PREA policies in the daily life of prisons.

The other issue is the discrepancy between policy and practice. Even though PREA develops national standards, there is usually inconsistent implementation because of the institutional culture, the staffing as well as the absence of trust between prisoners and the correctional personnel. A study has shown that fear of retaliation and stigma are the most relevant reasons to not report sexual abuse, and as such, many cases are not documented (Griffin et al., 2022). This underreporting complicates the evaluation of the real extent of the problem and reduces the chances of effective response by the administrators.

Also, a large gap in phenomenological studies that examine the voices of people who have been previously incarcerated exists. The majority of the studies focus on PREA and its administrative or policy points of view instead of focusing on the people who have been victimized themselves. This deficiency of qualitative understanding restricts the creation of trauma-informed solutions and does not allow grasping the extent to which policies can affect people at the individual level.

Study Purpose.

This transcendental phenomenological research aims to investigate the experiential life of formerly incarcerated adults in matters of sexual victimization and the application of PREA of 2003 within U.S. state correctional facilities. The lived experiences will be broadly conceptualized at this point of the study as the post facto perceptions, interpretations, and meanings that participants attribute to experiences of sexual victimization and to PREA-related policies and procedures experienced in incarceration.

This qualitative design focuses on depth, rather than breadth, creating the need to discover the fundamental meanings that the participants accord their experiences as opposed to measuring prevalence or hypothesis testing. The data will be gathered by means of in-depth, semi-structured interviews that will take place in secure and community-based locations. The population of interest is adults (18 years and above) who completed state prison sentences between 2015 and 2024 and who self-report having experienced sexual victimization or observed PREA being put into practice. Purposive and snowball sampling will guarantee diversity in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, and facility type without compromising ethics.

Research Questions

The study will follow the following research questions:

RQ1: What are the lived experiences of sexual victimization of formerly incarcerated adults in the U.S. correctional facilities?

RQ2: In what ways do formerly incarcerated people think PREA policies and procedures are effective in preventing and responding to sexual victimization?

RQ3: What are the barriers and challenges identified by formerly incarcerated adults as they report sexual victimization, and how do these impact overall experiences?

Importance of the Research.

The work is theoretically, practically and socially important. In theory, it enhances the phenomenological investigation of criminal justice by subjecting a sensitive understudied group to transcendental approaches. It adds to the thin body of qualitative research on PREA, which supplements quantitative data collected by BJS with descriptions of essence and idiom.

In practice, results will give practical recommendations to correctional agencies. Participant narratives allow administrators to understand areas of implementation failure, like insufficient staff training or fear of retaliation, and implement specific interventions. Reentry programs can be trauma-informed with the consideration of long-term effects of victimization as retrospectively described. State and federal policymakers can use the findings to support making enforcement policies stronger, funding policies, or setting new standards.

On a societal level, the research encourages the principles of restorative justice by putting voices that were historically quiet in policy discussion in focus. It is common to experience compounded marginalization of formerly imprisoned people when they are released; by adding their voices, humanity flourishes, stigmatization is diminished, and the criminal justice system is more comprehensively reformed. The study also follows the national priorities related to equity, since sexual victimization is disproportionately experienced by vulnerable populations, such as LGBTQ+ prisoners, racial minorities, and individuals with mental health concerns.

Nature of the Study

The present research adopts a transcendental phenomenological design which is qualitative. Phenomenology, which has been invented by Edmund Husserl and perfected by Clark Moustakas, is aimed at depicting the universal essence of a phenomenon as perceived by the people who have experienced it. Transcendental phenomenology in particular focuses on the need of the researcher to suspend his own preconceptions (epoché) and enable unbiased description of the experiences of participants without theoretical imposition.

Transcendental phenomenology is unique in that it is concerned with the what and how of lived experience as opposed to other traditions of qualitative research like quantitative methods (which measure variables or test hypotheses), other qualitative traditions like grounded theory (which constructs theory) or ethnography (which studies culture). The research will be based on the one-on-one interviews that will be audio-recorded between 60 and 90 minutes guided by open-ended questions related to the research questions. The transcription of the interviews will be done verbatim and will be analyzed using the four steps proposed by Moustakas: (1) epoché, (2) phenomenological reduction (horizontalization and meaning units), (3) imaginative variation, and (4) synthesis of composite textual and structural descriptions.

The sample will comprise 8-12 participants, which is in line with phenomenological guidelines on the importance of depth and saturation of themes, rather than on generalizability. The inclusion criteria are self-reported sexual victimization or direct exposure to PREA processes during state prison incarceration (2015-2024). The exclusion criteria will consist of active imprisonment or cognitive inability to give informed consent. Member checking, peer debriefing, audit trails and thick description will be used to establish data trustworthiness.

Theoretical Framework

The research is based on transcendental phenomenology, which mainly relies on the philosophy of consciousness by Husserl and methodological procedures used by Moustakas (1994). The concept of intentionality developed by Husserl is based on the assumption that consciousness is always directed towards an object; the researcher is expected to describe the fundamental structures of the directed experience. Moustakas realizes this in systematic procedures that ensure fidelity to the voices of participants as well as generating essence.

Definition of Terms

Previously Incarcerated Adults: Adults aged 18 years and older who left state prison custody during 2015-2024 and have served their sentences or are on community supervision.

Lived Experiences: The subjective, retrospective images, feelings, meanings, and interpretations that participants place on incarceration events of sexual victimization and PREA-related interactions.

Phenomenon: The combined experience of sexual victimization and PREA policy implementation as indicated by participants.

PREA: The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (P.L. 108–79) and its associated national standards.

Sexual Victimization: Non-consensual sex or harassment (rape, assault, abusive sex or coercive sex, and coercive pressure) committed by inmates or personnel, in line with BJS and PREA definitions.

Transcendental Phenomenology: This is a qualitative approach to describing the invariant essence of lived experiences by bracketing and analyzing the data in rigorous ways.

Assumptions, Limitations and Delimitations.

Assumptions: The researcher will be making assumptions about honesty and detailed accounts of participants; that retrospective recall is less than ideal but still valid in phenomenology; and that PREA standards were applied consistently to all sampled state facilities. Another assumption is that the trauma informed interviewing will cause minimal harm and that the participants will be able to differentiate between the PREA related experiences and the overall incarceration stressors.

Limitations: The research is based on self-reported retrospective data, which can be affected by the lapses of memory, or by the emotional state or social desirability. The small, purposive sample and state prisons only limit generalizability. Access to the subjects will be based on the reentry organizations, which may result in selection biases against those who have participated in support services. The delicate nature of the subject might cause a loss or partial revelations.

The research is limited to adults (ex-prisoners, state prisons, 20152024) who have experienced or witnessed sexual victimization. It does not cover federal facilities, jails, juvenile settings, and existing inmates. Only English-speaking participants that feel free to discuss trauma are involved. Transcendental phenomenological approach does not involve quantitative measurement or causation.

Summary

Chapter One has presented the area of research of the lived experiences of the formerly incarcerated adults in relation to sexual victimization and PREA implementation. The continued disparity between the ideal standards of PREA and realities on the ground, evidenced in administrative data and scholarly literature (Weaver et al., 2025; Cain et al., 2022) highlights the necessity of phenomenological inquiry. The purpose, research questions, and methodological framework are aligned in a manner that puts the voices of participants in the center and the contributions can be made to theory, policy and practice.

In Chapter Two, the literature review on PREA, sexual victimization, phenomenological investigations in corrections and other theoretical constructs will be detailed. Chapter Three will explain the research methodology and it will cover the selection, data collection, analysis procedures and ethical issues.

References