NCJ Number
77420
Date Published
1980
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Data are provided on offenders admitted to Wisconsin adult correctional institutions for calendar year 1979.
Abstract
Information is provided on admission status, type of commitment, offense, length of sentence, previous felony convictions, previous penal experience, juvenile institution experience, grade completed, achievement tests, and intelligence estimates. About 80 percent of all admissions were first admissions, representing 1,248 offenders. Adult felony commitments constituted 98.5 percent of the first admissions and 96.4 percent of the readmissions. Burglary was the most common offense category for first and readmitted men; forgery was the most common offense among women. Sentences of less than 2 years were received by 15.1 percent of total first admissions; between 2 and 3 years by 25.4 percent, between 3 and 4 years by 20.7 percent, between 4 and 6 years by 20.4 percent, and between 6 years and life by 16.1 percent. The median sentence was 35.9 months for all first admissions. Over 77 percent of the first admissions entered guilty pleas. Furthermore, the majority of first-admitted men were under the age of 25 and were comprised of 60.8 percent white, 3 percent white of Mexican origin, 36.2 percent black, and 3.3 percent Native American. About 84 percent of first-admitted men were single; 50.7 percent had no recorded previous felony convictions, 26.1 percent had one previous conviction, 13.3 percent had two, and 9 percent had three or more. In addition, over 62 percent of first-admitted men had no previous penal experience, and about one-fourth had juvenile institution experience. About 30 percent of the first-admitted adults had completed high school or posthigh school grades, and about one-fourth of the first admissions scored at the 9.5 grade level or better on achievement tests. For the total group, most men (39.3 percent) and women (32.9 percent) were estimated to be of average or normal intelligence. Data tables are provided.