The Correctional Client

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The Correctional Client
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Correctional client profile

• State prison population by offense
• 23 - property offenses
• 23 - drug offenses
• 45 - violent offenses
• 7 - DUI public order

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Correctional client profile

• Disproportionately young
• 13.2 U.S. population aged 20-29
• 50 entering prisoners are 18-27
• 48 of index offenderslt21
• Arrest rates peak between ages of 18 and 20 for
  violent crime
• Peak at 16 for property crimes (drop in half by
  22)

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Correctional client profile

• US Population
• 49 male
• 13 live in poverty
• lt50 married
• 85 completed H.S. (of 20-29 y.o. males)
• 12 African Am.
• 9 Hispanic

• Prison population
• 90 male
• Most lived in poverty
• lt20 married
• 34 completed H.S.
• 46 Afr-Amer
• 16 Hispanic

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Correctional client profile

• Prisoners are disproportionately poor, minority,
  unmarried, undereducated, young men.
• Find similar disparities in probation and parole
  populations

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Correctional client profile

• Probation
• 78 male
• 64 white
• 34 African-American
• 16 Hispanic

• Parole
• 88 male
• 55 white
• 44 African-American
• 21 Hispanic

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Offender Types - Situational offender

• Most are 1 time offenders
• Usually for serious violent offense
• Before crime, led conventional life
• What problems posed for corrections?
• Often no need for incapacitation, special
  deterrence, or rehabilitation ---gt why punish?

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Offender types - Career Criminal

• Birth cohort studies, Rand studies of
  incarcerated criminals revealed repeat offender
  phenomenon
• Small number of criminals commit
  disproportionately high number of crimes
• Findings led to idea of selective
  incapacitation

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Offender types - Career Criminal

• Broadened concept to target even people w/ only 3
  arrests
• Can include offenders who only commit offenses
  intermittently

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Offender types - Long-term offenders

• Approx. 1/3 serving gt 25 yrs.
• 9 life
• Numbers growing
• elimination of parole, truth in sentencing
  laws, mandatory sentencing
• Usually not control problems
• Have to provide them w/ meaningful activities

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Offender types - Elderly prisoners

• As long-term inmate population grows, so does
  number of elderly offenders
• Most entered when young
• Major issue health care ---gt significantly
  higher costs
• Problem of what to do with them post-release

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Offender types - Prisoners w/ HIV/AIDS (1999
data)

• 2.3 state prisoners, 0.9 federal HIV
• 3.4 females infected, 2.1 males
• 27 HIV inmates have AIDS
• Overall rate confirmed AIDS cases in prison
  (0.6) gt 5x greater than gen. pop.(0.12)
• cases tripled 1991-97, but has grown at slower
  rate than overall inmate pop.

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Offender types - Substance Abusers

• Probationers (1995)
• 70 rptd. past drug use
• 32 used illegal drugs month before offense
• 14 on drugs at time of offense
• 25 drinking at time of off.

• Prisoners (1997)
• 83 rptd. past drug use
• 57 used illegal drugs month before offense
• 33 on drugs at time of offense
• 37 drinking at time of off.

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Offender types - Substance Abusers

• Drug offenders assoc. w/ prop.crimes, alcohol
  abusers w/ viol. crimes
• Offenses most closely related to alcohol use at
  time of crime assault, murder, manslaughter and
  sexual assault
• Offenses most closely related to drug use at time
  of crime drug possession, drug trafficking, and
  robbery

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Offender types -

• Fewer than 1 in 5 inmates receive treatment in
  prison, but about 1/4 participate in other
  programs (e.g. NA, AA)

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Offender types - Mentally ill offender

• More than 250,000 mentally ill incarcerated
• About 10 prison and jail inmates report a mental
  or emotional condition
• 16 report either mental condition or overnight
  stay in mental hospital
• Deinstitutionalization problem

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Offender types - Mentally ill offender

• Most mentally ill people NOT criminal
• Most pose no greater risk of violent offending
  than the general population
• Most violent offending (97) not attributable to
  mental disorder

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Offender types -Mentally handicapped

• Disprop. rep. in prison 5 developmentally
  disabled vs. 2 of general population
• Why?
• Difficult to get what they want legitimately ---gt
  poor
• Not good at planning
• Easily duped
• How to treat them?
• Issue of community programs

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Offender types - Sex offenders

• Assaultive sex offenders vs. sex workers
• Assaultive include rapists and pedophiles
• Specialized treatment required (behavior
  modification, empathy training, anger management,
  chemical castration)
• Most prostitutes end up on probation ---gt
  probation officers have to help w/ alternative
  vocations

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Classification

• All offenders classified
• Usually based initially on prior experience in
  system, offense history, and substance abuse
  patterns
• Classification criteria
• Offense criteria offense severity
• Risk criteria probability future crim. behav.
• Program criteria type of Rx required