NCJ Number
82484
Date Published
1980
Length
12 pages
Annotation
A profile of the personal characteristics, criminal histories, and institutional records is presented for a sample of 100 male youthful offenders committed to the New York State Department of Correctional Services in 1978.
Abstract
The majority (81 percent) of the surveyed youthful offenders were between ages 16 and 18 upon reception. Compared to all 1978 commitments between the ages of 16 and 20, upstate counties (particularly smaller counties under 150,000 population) were overrepresented in the sample. There was a higher percentage of white offenders and a correspondingly lower percentage of blacks in the sample than in the overall commitment population in that age range. Of the sampled commitments, 53 percent were convicted of violent personal crimes, with robbery accounting for the largest percentage (43 percent). Burglary was the conviction crime of 33 percent of the sample. Forty-two percent of the sample was immediately transferred to minimum security facilities following classification. Of the 100 cases, 85 were transferred less than two times, and 83 served over 75 percent of their sentences in one facility. Seventy-three percent of the sample participated in educational programs, vocational education, or industrial training. As of this report, 94 percent of the sample had been released by board action (69), conditional release (24), or court order (1). The average time served for these 94 released youthful offenders was 18.9 months. Tabular and graphic data are provided. (Author summary modified)