NCJ Number
105460
Date Published
1986
Length
56 pages
Annotation
This paper presents 1980-1984 data on the characteristics of violence in correctional settings in Canada and discusses their implications for inmate classification and placement.
Abstract
Assaultive violence, especially fighting between inmates, accounted for the largest percentage of violence across correctional settings. Most violence of all forms occurred in maximum-security settings. Inmates involved in violent incidents ended to be younger, serving relatively short sentences, and have a greater absolute number of previous violent convictions and higher rates of both violent and assaultive offending over time. Counterintuitively, prison crowding was not associated with increased violence, but inmate transiency was. Results suggest that more attention should be paid to inmate classification and placement so that offender subgroups can be matched with the most appropriate correctional environment. The relationship between inmate turnover and violence suggests that efforts should focus on maintaining stable social groups in prisons. 3 footnotes, 4 tables, and 44 references.