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1 James Stephan, Prison Rule Violators 1 (1989)

handle is hein.death/prisruv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report Prison By James Stephan BJS Statistician A nationally representative survey of State prison Inmates in 1986 found that over half (53%) had been charged with violating prison rules at lea.t once since entering prison on their current sentence. The sur- vey estimated that the 450,000 prison in- mates-were charged with a total of 1.75 million rule violations. The percentage of prisoners charged with infractions during their current term had not changed appreciably from the 54% in 1979, when the last survey was completed, even though the national prison population had increased by 64% over this period. Among the flndlngs from the study of the Inmates' Infractions were the following: * Younger inmates and those with more extensive criminal careers or drug histories were the most likely to have violated prison rules. * Inmates housed in larger prisons or maxi- mum-security prisons had higher percent- ages of rule violations than prisoners In other types of facilities. * More than 90% of the Inmates charged with violating prison rules were found guilty in prison administrative proceedings. *The 90%-and-above rate of guilty deci- sions occurred for different racial/ethnic, age, and sex categories and did not vary by size or security level of the prison. a Inmates serving their first sentence to prison had a lower average annual rate of infraction (1.0) than did recidivists (1.6), Rule Violators December 1989 This special report analyzes the char- acteristics of State prison Inmates charged with violating facility rules during their current incarceration. Based on a variety of demographic, drug-use, criminal-history, and facility- related measures, this study expands our understanding of the inmates most likely to violate prison rules and describes the number and frequency of their violations during their current incarceration. We thank the hundreds of prison administrators and staff who facili- tated the interviewing of Inmates; without their cooperation this study would not have been possible. We hope these and other criminal justice practitioners, policymakers, and re- searchers will find this report useful. Joseph M. Bessette Acting Director regardless of how long they had served on their current sentence. *A higher percentage of male inmates (53%) than female inmates (47%) were charged with rule breaking. On an average annual basis, however, women had a higher prison infraction rate than men (2.0 average violations per year versus 1.4 for men). * Inmates who used drugs prior to admis- sion were more likely to violate prison rules than were nonusers of drugs, 57% com- pared to 37%. Table 1. State prison Inmates charged with violating prison rules during their current sentence, 1979 and 1986 State prison inmates All wore char Year inmates Nur er Percent 1979 274,564 147,659 53.8% 1986 450,416 237,147 52.7 Note: See the definition and classification of rule violators in the box on page 2. * Whites and blacks committed infractions at the same rate - approximately 1.5 vio- lations per inmate per year. * White and black rule violators reported nearly identical distributions of punish- ments received for rule violations. The most common penalties were solitary confinement or segregation and loss of goodtime credit. Rule violations In State prisons Prison rules regulate inmate conduct to assure orderly operation of the institution and to protect inmates and staff. Codes of conduct and their associated rewards and penalties help to manage confined popula- tions that outnumber staff by 3 to 1. Pris- ons respond to the more serious violations through administrative hearings that con- sider the merits of the charges and appro- priate penalties. In 1986, 53% of the more than 450,000 inmates in State prisons nationwide had been charged with at least 1 rule violation during their current sentence (table 1). In 1979 the percentage of prisoners charged with rule violations was nearly the same- 54% of 275,000 inmates. (See the box on page 2 for the definition and classification 61t C f I i , N - i M

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