NCJ Number
219646
Journal
The Prison Journal Volume: 87 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2007 Pages: 241-253
Date Published
June 2007
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the predictive utility of identified factors in predicting violent institutional misconduct among high security inmates in Florida.
Abstract
Consistent with prior research, younger age, shorter sentence, prison gang affiliation, and history of prior institutional violence were all associated with increased rates of assaultive misconduct. Conversely, older age, higher educational levels, and violent offense of conviction were associated with reduced rates of assaultive misconduct. The identification of factors associated with prison violence is of significant interest to prison management and staff and criminal justice researchers. Such factors have an immediate practical application at admission to prison in determinations of institutional classification and facility assignment. These factors also inform the allocation of security resources and programming within a particular custody classification of inmates. This study reviewed disciplinary records of 24,514 close-custody inmates in the Florida Department of Corrections in calendar year 2003. The study investigated the predictive utility of the factors identified above in predicting violent institutional violence among high-security inmates and provided more detailed base rate information and risk analysis by utilizing a range of operational definitions of prison violence. Tables, references