Sex offenders, sex and the sub rosa prison economy

A wealth of literature exists detailing the nature and extent of sexual activity in the US penal estate while little attention has been paid to the subject in English prisons. The purpose of this article is to explore the nature of sexual activity occurring in a medium security sex offender only prison in England. Based on a six-month prison ethnography including 30 semi-structured interviews, it will be shown that sex offenders engage in sexual activity whilst in prison despite the prohibition on sexual activity. For sex offenders, prison sex is not solely about the performance of masculinities, power and dominance, but was instead used for sexual gratification and the sexual exploitation of others. The exploitative nature of the sexual activity was inextricably linked to the sub rosa economy of the prison. As such, prison sex for sex offenders is qualitatively different to previous depictions of prison sex among mainstream offenders.