First, a quick primer on the difference between jails and prisons. Jails are short-term correctional facilities and pretrial detention. Jail holds those who have been convicted, will be convicted, and will be acquitted. It holds those who have been arrested but not arraigned, it holds those who pose a danger to others.
Prisons, on the other hand, are for offenders who have already been tried and sentenced. The inmates in prisons are there for a much longer stay. A sentence of more than a year usually lands a convict in prison where there are (supposed to be) greater treatment services and the facilities are set up to handle the long-term demands of a captive population. Prisons are generally more stable and safer than jails, despite the fact that they hold offenders convicted of more serious crimes.
The figures in this post come from the recently released Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report titled “Jail Inmates At Midyear 2011 – Statistical Tables.” I know, it sounds dreadfully boring.
But with a little color and imagination (yeah, that’s right BJS, we’re calling you out for mind-numbingly awful presentation), you can see some interesting stuff. Take a look at that top chart. While the males had a pretty steady trajectory that peaked in 2008 and declined thereafter, the females have a different story to tell. Female jail inmate numbers peaked earlier, in 2007, and then dropped suddenly in 2009 but with some fluctuation afterward. I like to separate crime data by sex – lumping males and females together always obscures what’s going on with women because the overall criminality of males is so much higher.
Next, juveniles.
These numbers don’t at all follow those of adults. Explanation? I dunno. A lot goes into this, including public perception of juveniles and crime, public policy, and high profile crimes. Because the numbers are much smaller than those of adults, they can be affected by just one or two larger jurisdictions that suddenly decide to increase their arrests of juveniles, possibly through initiatives like targeting gangs, underage drinking, and youth drug use.
The real story overall, though is in this final chart.
Looking at raw numbers in crime statistics over time is always folly. Raw numbers fail to account for population changes, and trust me, that’s really important. These numbers show the real trend data in jail populations, though, of course, the extreme disproportion of adult males obscures what’s happening with females and juvenile populations.
Just by way of comparison, we have more people (proportionately) in jail than Canada holds in both jail and prison combined.
Interesting, eh?
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heathergm
May 11, 2012
I wonder if there are more services available to women & children, which is why adult males tend to be in jails? I know from my social work days that it’s hard finding homeless shelters for single males — perhaps that’s a contributing factor.
Louise Behiel
May 11, 2012
I also wonder about the mentally ill in jail and prison. Seems to me that we closed (in Canada anyway) the mental hospitals and started incarcerating the MI for their crimes – crimes which wouldn’t have been committed if we’d had appropriate facilities for them.
bonniehallgerson
May 14, 2012
Reblogged this on mothersforprisonreform.
bonniehallgerson
May 14, 2012
INSANE SENTENCING
What is even more staggering is the amount of time such criminals will spend behind bars. A hundred years ago a robbery conviction garnered a five to ten year sentence. Five to ten years was considered a long time in the penitentiary. Today the same robbery conviction will get you fifty years, even though the nature of the crime hasn’t changed at all. The amount of punishment we hand out for offenses today is, in most respects, ten times greater than what it was just a few decades ago. When I first arrived in prison twenty years was considered a long sentence. Twenty years is what you get now for bouncing check and DUIs. And non-violent drug offenses can get you life without parole.
By Davin Douma
http://www.mothersforprisonreform.wordpress.com