NCJ Number
43718
Date Published
1975
Length
33 pages
Annotation
DATA ON THE SOCIAL AND CRIMINAL HISTORIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF 401 INMATES OF LOCAL JAILS IN VIRGINIA ARE REPORTED.
Abstract
INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED DURING THE SUMMER OF 1974 WITH A STRATIFIED SAMPLE OF INMATES IN LARGE AND SMALL , OLD AND NEW, AND RURAL AND URBAN JAILS NEAR RICHMOND, VA. THE SUBJECTS WERE PREDOMINANTLY MALE. OVER HALF WERE BLACK. HALF WERE UNDER 23 YEARS OF AGE; FEWER THAN 15 PERCENT WERE OVER 40 YEARS OF AGE. OVER HALF HAD NEVER BEEN MARRIED; 21.1 PERCENT WERE MARRIED. HALF HAD 10 YEARS OF SCHOOLING OR LESS. ONLY 12.2 PERCENT REPORTED HAVING ANY EDUCATION BEYOND HIGH SCHOOL. NEARLY HALF HAD INCOMES OF LESS THAN $5,000 PER YEAR. TWO INMATES REPORTED INCOMES OVER $25,000. UNEXPECTEDLY, TWO-THIRDS OF THE INMATES REPORTED BEING EMPLOYED FULL TIME AT THE TIME OF THEIR ARRESTS, WHILE 7.6 PERCENT WERE EMPLOYED PART TIME, AND 27.4 PERCENT WERE UNEMPLOYED. TWO-THIRDS SAID THEY HAD BEEN EMPLOYED AS SEMISKILLED WORKERS OR MACHINE OPERATORS. NEARLY TWO-THIRDS REPORTED THAT THEIR CURRENT CONFINEMENT WAS THEIR FIRST TIME IN JAIL. ABOUT ONE-THIRD SAID THEY HAD SERVED FROM 1 TO 40 PREVIOUS JAIL SENTENCES. OVER HALF HAD BEEN ON PROBATION AT LEAST ONCE. OVER ONE-THIRD WERE ARRESTED FOR CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY. REPORTED REASONS FOR ARREST INCLUDED BURGLARY (18.5 PERCENT); DRUNKENNESS, VAGRANCY, OR TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS (10.7 PERCENT); DRUG OFFENSES (12.7 PERCENT); MURDER AND KIDNAPPING (6.6 PERCENT); AND RAPE (2.5 PERCENT). A LIST OF REFERENCES AND A COPY OF THE STUDY INSTRUMENT ARE PROVIDED. TABULAR DATA ARE OMITTED.