NCJ Number
218451
Date Published
July 2007
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This paper briefly examines race, gender, and age in an analysis of the United States prison population growth.
Abstract
Today's American prison population is much older, somewhat Whiter and more female, and less African-American and Hispanic. Race and gender disparities in imprisonment have diminished significantly but still remain large. Examples of this include: (1) compared to Whites, African-Americans and Hispanics are respectively 6.2 times and 3.0 times more likely to be imprisoned today, compared to 9.5 and 3.6 times in 1979 and (2) the gap between the rate of imprisonment for individuals younger than 25 and those older than 45 dropped to 2.1, down from 6.8 a quarter century ago. The larger number of aging prisoners has contributed to the increase in arrests for violent, property, and drug offenses compared to younger age groups. In addition, while recent declines in crime among younger offenders have brought down crime rates, rising numbers of older offenders are cycling in and out of prison, boosting incarceration rates. Tables, references