NCJ Number
236571
Date Published
June 2011
Length
33 pages
Annotation
Based on analyses of existing data collected by the Illinois Department of Corrections and Illinois criminal history records, this study examined trends and characteristics of adult females admitted to and released from Illinois correctional facilities, as well as their number in the prison population in Illinois between the State's fiscal years of 1989 and 2010.
Abstract
For these years, there was a dramatic increase in females admitted to and exiting from Illinois correctional facilities, and there was an increase in the year-end population of female inmates. The total prison admissions accounted for by females increased from less than 7 percent in fiscal year 1989 to a peak of 13.8 percent in fiscal year 2005, before falling back to 8.6 percent of admissions in fiscal year 2010. Similarly, the percent of the year-end prison population for women increased from 4.3 percent in fiscal year 1989 to 6.3 percent in fiscal year 2005 and 6.1 percent in fiscal year 2010. Throughout the entire period under study, the majority of females sentenced to prison ware convicted of the least serious felony crime classes (Class 3 and 4), peaking in fiscal year 2005, when approximately 75 percent of all females sentenced to prison were convicted of a Class 3 or 4 felony. During the period under study, the age of females sentenced to prison in Illinois increased, and an increasing proportion had previously been sentenced to prison. Females released from prison during the study period tended to have lower recidivism rates than males, even after differences in offender characteristics and risk factors were taken into account. 4 tables, 13 figures, and 6 references