NCJ Number
185679
Date Published
2000
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This report examines sentencing practices in Oklahoma, incarceration rates for males and females in the State, and the possible reasons why women’s incarceration rates in Oklahoma are the highest among the States.
Abstract
The research used data from the Uniform Crime Report form the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Oklahoma’s incarceration rate of 622 offenders per 100,000 population was the third highest in the country in 1998. The female incarceration rate of 122 per 100,000 led the country. The arrest rate increased by 14 percent for females and almost 11 percent for males between 1996 and 1998. New admissions to the Department of Corrections increased 14 percent for males and 26 for females. Drug law offenses accounted for the incarceration of 32 percent of the men and 45 percent of the females. Fraud and larceny offenses followed drug law offenses for men, whereas larceny and driving under the influence were the next most common offenses for male. Results revealed consistency between the percentage of females arrested for drug law offenses and the percentage convicted for drug law offenses; in contrast, the opposite was true for males. Tables, figures, and 14 references