Identifying possible sources of inmate crowding in U.S. jails

This note presents results from an aggregate-level study of several possible correlates of inmate crowding in county jails during 1983 ( n =505) and 1988 ( n =522). Findings revealed that jurisdiction variables (court caseload, degree of urbanism) and state variables (sentencing practices, degree of...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wooldredge, John D. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 1991
In: Journal of quantitative criminology
Year: 1991, Volume: 7, Issue: 4, Pages: 373-386
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Description
Summary:This note presents results from an aggregate-level study of several possible correlates of inmate crowding in county jails during 1983 ( n =505) and 1988 ( n =522). Findings revealed that jurisdiction variables (court caseload, degree of urbanism) and state variables (sentencing practices, degree of prison inmate crowding) are at least as significant as jail variables (type of standards, frequency of inspections, enforcement system for standards, inmate population composition) for predicting the degree of inmate crowding. This suggests that policies designed to reduce crowding should be sophisticated enough to account for the possible effects of all three groups of variables.
ISSN:1573-7799
DOI:10.1007/BF01066589