NUMBER OF PERSONS WITH RECORDS OF ARREST OR CONVICTION IN THE LABOR FORCE - A STUDY

• NCJ Number: 58723
• Author(s): N MILLER
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 49 pages
• Contract Number(s): B-9-M-8-4119
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Labor
• Corporate Author: American Bar Association
• Sale Source: National Technical Information Service; National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

PAST ESTIMATES OF THE NUMBER OF PERSONS IN THE LABOR FORCE WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS ARE REVIEWED, ALONG WITH NEW, MORE RELIABLE FIGURES.

Abstract

THREE SEPARATE ESTIMATION PROCEDURES WERE USED TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF PERSONS WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS. FIRST, THE NUMBER OF PERSONS HELD IN THE FBI CRIMINAL RECORD FILES WAS DETERMINED AND ADJUSTED USING FBI DATA TO EXCLUDE (1) PERSONS WHOSE AGE INDICATES FROM MORTALITY TABLES THAT THEY ARE DECEASED OR (2) PERSONS WHOSE RECORDS SHOW THEY HAVE BEEN DEPORTED FROM THE U.S. AS ILLEGAL ALIENS. THIS NUMBER WAS THEN EXTRAPOLATED TO THE UNIVERSE OF PERSONS WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS, WHICH INCLUDES PERSONS WITH RECORDS HELD BY STATE AND LOCAL POLICE, BUT NOT BY THE FBI. SECOND, A SIMILAR PROCEDURE WAS USED TO EXTRAPOLATE TO THE UNIVERSE OF PERSONS WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS BASED UPON THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF PERSONS HELD BY STATE AND LOCAL CRIMINAL RECORDS CENTERS IN CALIFORNIA, NEW JERSEY, AND NEW YORK THROUGH COMPARISON OF THE RATIO OF ARREST IN THOSE STATES TO ALL U.S. CRIMINAL ARRESTS. THIRD, PROBABILITY OF ARREST RATES FOR MALES BORN IN 1945 AND RESIDING IN PHILADELPHIA, PA., FROM THEIR 10TH TO 18TH BIRTHDAYS WERE ADJUSTED TO CONSIDER URBAN-RURAL, BLACK-WHITE, AND MALE-FEMALE ARREST DIFFERENCES AND THEN APPLIED AGAINST CENSUS DATA TO PROVIDE ANOTHER OFFENDER UNIVERSE ESTIMATE. LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATES FOR THE U.S. POPULATION OF BLACK AND WHITE MALES AND FEMALES WERE APPLIED TO THE STATISTIC DERIVED FROM THIS TRIANGULATION PROCEDURE. IT WAS FOUND THAT AT LEAST 36 MILLION AND PROBABLY 40 MILLION PERSONS HAVE CRIMINAL ARREST RECORDS. OF THESE, BETWEEN 26 AND 29 MILLION ARE IN THE LABOR FORCE. AN ADDITIONAL 3.5 MILLION PERSONS WITH RECORDS WHO ARE NOT NOW IN THE FORCE CAN BE EXPECTED TO REENTER IN THE FUTURE. POPULATION GROUPS WITH A HIGHER THAN AVERAGE NUMBER OF OFFENDERS INCLUDE THE DISADVANTAGED, BLACKS, VETERANS, AND PERSONS WITH ALCOHOL OR DRUG-RELATED HANDICAPS. TABLES ARE INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--KBL)