Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2008-2009

Between October 2008 and December 2009, BJS completed the second National Inmate Survey (NIS-2) in 167 state and federal prisons, 286 jails, and 10 special confinement facilities operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Military, and correctional authorities in Indian country. The survey, conducted by RTI International (Research Triangle Park, NC), was administered to 81,566 inmates ages 18 or older, including 32,029 inmates in state and federal prisons, 48,066 in jails, 957 in ICE facilities, 399 in military facilities, and 115 in Indian country jails.

The NIS-2 is part of the National Prison Rape Statistics Program, which collects administrative records of reported sexual violence, and allegations of sexual victimization directly from victims, through surveys of adult inmates in prisons and jails and surveys of youth held in juvenile correctional facilities. Administrative records have been collected annually since 2004. Reports by victims of sexual victimization have been collected since 2007...

OIG Releases Special Report: August 2009 Riot at CIM

Findings in Brief

The Office of the Inspector General finds that:

• The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation failed to house a suitable inmate population at CIM’s Reception Center West

• Despite the liabilities of the facility’s design, CIM staff responded effectively to the August 2009 riot at Reception Center West

Managing Elderly Inmates

The main purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive profile of the older offenders in federal institutions and community settings. This report highlights the problems and unique needs of these offenders that set them apart from their younger adult counterparts. We defined first the terms used in the study and the age of the offenders.

We collected data on the population of older offenders (50 years and older)

Continue Reading...

Addressing Correctional Officer Stress: Programs and Strategies

Stress among correctional officers is widespread, according to research studies and anecdotal evidence. The threat of inmate violence against officers, actual violence committed by inmates, inmate demands and manipulation, and problems with coworkers are conditions that officers have reported in recent years can cause stress.

These factors, combined with understaffing, extensive overtime, rotating shift work

Continue Reading...

The Aging Inmate Population

Introduction:

In recent years, the largest and fastest growing number of incarcerated inmates over the age of 50 in United States’ prisons has continued to shape the demographic of prison systems throughout the country. The perpetual explosion of elderly persons in the general American population, and the repercussions of the “tough-on-crime” laws during the 1980s and 1990s, have led to a current increase of approximately 675,000 arrests of elderly persons every year in the United States.1 Experts assert that this is not attributable to an elderly crime wave, but rather to several factors that will continue to put more elderly people behind bars and continue to keep these persons behind bars longer.

Summary: Placement of High-Risk Sex Offender Paroles Investigation

This report summarizes the results of an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General into actions taken by two state parole administrators in response to the enactment of Assembly Bill 113, which imposed new restrictions on parolees designated as high-risk sex offenders. To comply with state confidentiality laws governing personnel matters, this public report does not identify parties by name. A full confidential report of the investigation has been provided to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and other administration officials for appropriate action. The investigation was conducted under the authority of Penal Code section 6126, which assigns the Office of the Inspector General responsibility for oversight of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and its subordinate entities.

Race and the Decision to Seek the Death Penalty in Federal Cases

Introduction

In federal capital cases, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) in the district where the case is prosecuted makes an initial recommendation to seek or not to seek the death penalty for defendants who are charged with crimes that carry this penalty. The USAO sends its recommendation to the Attorney General’s Review Committee on Capital Cases (AGRC). The AGRC reviews the USAO’s recommendation and the case file, occasionally gathers additional information about the case, and makes a recommendation to the U.S. Attorney General (AG) about whether to seek the death penalty. The AG then makes the final decision.

Continue Reading...

No More Cell Phones

Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted from the Winter 2005 edition of TechBeat, the quarterly news magazine of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, an NIJ program. Analyses of test results do not represent product approval or endorsement by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice; the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce; or Aspen Systems Corp. Points of view or opinions contained in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Offender Supervision With Electronic Technology: A User’s Guide

In May 1999, the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) was awarded a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to assist manufacturers, service providers, and product and service users in the field of electronic technology to enhance their use of technology for effective community-based supervision of offenders through research, education, and training.

Continue Reading...

Assessing the Role of Neuropsychological Functioning in Inmates’ Treatment Response

Introduction:

One of the most pressing issues within corrections today is the presence of inmates who are unresponsive to authority, repeatedly violate institutional rules, victimize within the institution, and are responsible for high post-release recidivism rates (Corrections Program Office, 1999). These same inmates, whether predatory or impulsive, often show poor decision making skills and lack behavioral self regulation. And importantly, they tend not to respond to conventional treatments in spite of their greater need for intervention. Yet, few correctional facilities have the knowledge or resources to attempt to more effectively treat these inmates given that the supportive research is lacking. Many triage them into 23-hour segregation units to minimize the safety concerns they pose and to avoid consuming scarce treatment resources on a population that does not respond to conventional approaches. Research suggests that a significant number of these inmates have psychopathic characteristics that further complicate treatment efforts and worsen their post-release outcomes. In response to the inability to effectively treat these inmates, several states screen for psychopathy to exclude them from treatment in an effort to avoid waste of precious resources on those who are not likely to respond favorably. For example, some states disqualify drug abusing offenders with high scores on the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) (Hare, 1991) from treatment programs. Overall, there are few concerted attempts to treat these inmates, and most efforts have not fared well (Hare, 1999). Correctional administrators see clear public safety benefits to being able to accurately identify these inmates and more effectively direct treatment resources. In the absence of a thorough understanding of what underlies inmates’ persistent misconduct and treatment resistance, we will continue to fail to reach this very important subgroup, which is responsible for the majority of serious, violent crimes in our communities.