RESEARCH FOCUSED ON CRIMINAL AND VICTIM BEHAVIORS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF PRISON LIFE WITH RESPECT TO SOCIAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND CULTURAL FACTORS IN SEXUAL AGGRESSION. DESCRIPTIONS OF INCIDENTS IN JUVENILE INSTITUTIONS, JAILS, ADULT PRISONS OR REFORMATORIES, AND CORRECTIONAL MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES WERE OBTAINED, ALTHOUGH MOST INCIDENTS OCCURRED IN NEW YORK ADULT AND YOUTH PRISONS. WITH THE AID OF TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS AND BACKGROUND DATA FROM PRISON FILES, 107 TARGETS OF AGGRESSIVE SEXUAL THREATS AND 45 INMATE AGGRESSORS WERE STUDIED. TARGET SAMPLING PROCEDURES INCLUDED AVAILABILITY AND RANDOM SAMPLING TECHNIQUES. AVAILABILITY SAMPLING INVOLVED PREDEFINED HIGH-RISK GROUPS AND STAFF REFERRALS. RANDOM SAMPLING WAS DESIGNED TO INCLUDE VARIOUS AGE GROUPS. TO EVALUATE STAFF HANDLING OF SEXUAL AGGRESSION, INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED WITH ADMINISTRATORS AND OTHER PERSONNEL IN FOUR PRISONS. OF THE PRISONERS INTERVIEWED, 28 PERCENT REPORTED BEING TARGETS OF SEXUAL AGGRESSION AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR INSTITUTIONAL CAREERS. ONLY ONE INMATE HAD BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED, INDICATING THAT THE PREVALENCE OF PRISON RAPE IS RELATIVELY LOW COMPARED TO OTHER CATEGORIES OF HARM ACCOMPANYING SEXUAL INCIDENTS. INMATES WERE PHYSICALLY ABUSED, ABUSED BY THREATENING OR INSULTING LANGUAGE, AND SUBJECTED TO PROPOSITIONS PERCEIVED AS THREATENING. TARGETS TENDED TO BE YOUNG, WHITE, NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS FROM NONURBAN AREAS WHO HAD HIGHER RATES OF MENTAL HEALTH RESIDENCY AND IN PRISON SUICIDE ATTEMPTS. INCIDENTS OF SEXUAL AGGRESSION OCCURRED ANYWHERE THAT MEN CONGREGATED, AND SUCH INCIDENTS TOOK PLACE WITHIN THE FIRST 16 WEEKS OF A TARGET'S CONFINEMENT. AGGRESSION WAS OFTEN CARRIED OUT BY AGGRESSORS WORKING TOGETHER. ABOUT HALF OF THE INCIDENTS RESULTED IN PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, AND ANOTHER ONE-THIRD INVOLVED THREATS. FEAR, ANGER, AND ANXIETY WERE COMMON RESPONSES, REGARDLESS OF THE LEVEL OF FORCE USED IN THE SEXUAL APPROACH, AND VICTIMIZATION LED TO LOWER THRESHOLDS FOR VIOLENCE AND EXPLOSIVENESS. COMPARING AGGRESSORS TO A RANDOMLY SELECTED CONTROL GROUP, SUBCULTURAL HYPOTHESES BECAME PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATIONS OF SEXUAL AGGRESSION. STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND IN AGE, ETHNICITY, VIOLENT DISCIPLINARY INFRACTIONS, AND RECORDS OF JUVENILE COMMITMENT. PRISON STAFF WERE AWARE OF THE VICTIMIZATION PROBLEM AND HAD TAKEN MEASURES TO CONTROL IT, SUCH AS THE USE OF PROTECTIVE HOUSING. FINDINGS REVEALED A RATE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN PRISONS APPROXIMATING THE RATE OF HETEROSEXUAL RAPE ON THE STREET. REFORM CAN INCLUDE SEX EDUCATION FOR THE PRISON POPULATION AND TRAINING FOR TARGETS IN MANIPULATIVE AND SELF-DEFENSE SKILLS. PROVIDING ACCEPTABLE SEXUAL OUTLETS FOR PRISONERS AND REVISING SENTENCING PATTERNS TO REMOVE TARGETS FROM PRISONS ARE OTHER WAYS OF ALLEVIATING SEXUAL AGGRESSION. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON THE PREVALENCE OF SEXUAL AGGRESSION IN PRISONS, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEXUAL AGGRESSION AND PRISON VIOLENCE, THE IMPACT OF SEXUAL AGGRESSION ON TARGETS, AND EXPLANATIONS FOR SEXUAL AGGRESSION ARE PRESENTED. APPENDIXES CONTAIN THE DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS INSTRUMENTS. SUPPORTING DATA ARE PROVIDED, AND REFERENCES ARE CITED. (AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT MODIFIED--DEP)