NCJ Number
67655
Date Published
1978
Length
47 pages
Annotation
DATA COLLECTED ON A RANDOM SAMPLE OF 256 INMATES AT THE INDIANA STATE PRISON WERE STATISTICALLY TABULATED TO OBTAIN A COMPOSITE PROFILE OF A PRISONER SERVING A LIFE SENTENCE FOR A SERIOUS CRIME (E.G., FIRST-DEGREE MURDER).
Abstract
DESCRIBED AS THE FIRST PART OF A FOUR-PART STATISTICAL REPORT ON THE SEGMENT OF THE INDIANA PRISON POPULATION SERVING A LIFE SENTENCE, THIS REPORT WAS PREPARED BY THE DIVISION OF RESEARCH AND STATISTICS OF THE INDIANA STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS IN 1978. A RANDOM SAMPLE OF 256 SUBJECTS WAS TAKEN FROM THE 554 INMATES CURRENTLY SERVING LIFE SENTENCES. A 27-ITEM QUESTIONNAIRE WAS DEVELOPED TO COLLECT THE DATA, FOR WHICH THE INMATES' INSTITUTIONAL PACKETS WERE THE SOURCES. THE QUESTIONNAIRE WAS COMPLETED BY THREE MEMBERS OF THE STAFF OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION'S CENTRAL OFFICE AND ONE MEMBER OF THE STATE PRISON'S STAFF. CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO A VARIETY OF DESCRIPTIVE VARIABLES, THE DATA WERE TABULATED IN 28 TABLES, WHICH FOLLOW THE BRIEF NARATIVE SECTION OF THIS REPORT. A STATISTICALLY CREATED MODEL OF THE MODEL OF THE AVERAGE LIFER AT THE INDIANA STATE PRISON INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS: HE IS A WHITE, 37 YEAR OLD MALE, WHO WAS SINGLE AND EMPLOYED FULL-TIME WHEN HE COMMITTED FIRST-DEGREE MURDER. HE KILLED A STRANGER WITH A HANDGUN, ACTING ALONE, AND WAS NEITHER DRUNK, NOR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS. THIS IS HIS SECOND FELONY COMMITMENT AND HE HAS SERVED APPROXIMATELY 6 YEARS OF HIS CURRENT SENTENCE, RECIEVING TWO DISCIPLINARY WRITE-UPS IN THE LAST TWO YEARS (E.G., FOR POSSESSION OF CONTRABAND AND FOR BEING OUT OF PLACE). HE HAS APPROXIMATELY 14 YEARS TO SERVE BEFORE BEING AUTHORIZED FOR RELEASE. THE TABULAR DATA PRESENTED IN THIS REPORT INCLUDE INMATES' AGES AT TIME OF ADMISSION, RACIAL COMPOSITION, ALL COMMITTING OFFENSES, CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE CRIME FOR WHICH HE WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT, DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ON THE SUBJECTS, DATA REFLECTING INMATES' ADJUSTMENT TO CONFINEMENT (E.G., DISCIPLINARY WRITE-UPS), AND MEDICAL DATA. STATISTICAL TABLES ARE APPENDED.