NCJ Number
164735
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 23 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1996) Pages: 542-552
Date Published
1996
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The disciplinary records of 93 death row inmates and 323 inmates sentenced to life without parole were compared to those of 232 inmates sentenced to life with parole.
Abstract
The participants included all male inmates sentenced to the Missouri Department of Corrections for first-degree murder since the reimposition of capital punishment in 1977. The Department had 416 of these inmates as of January 1993. Results revealed similar disciplinary infraction levels across the three groups. The differences disappeared when other variables were included in a multivariate regression analysis. Findings indicated that death-sentenced and life-without-parole inmates were not more likely than life-with-parole inmates to commit murders or assaults. Findings indicated the need to reevaluate restrictive policies that are based on the assumptions of a disproportionate amount of violent behavior by death-sentenced and life-without-parole inmates. Tables and 29 references (Author abstract modified)