This address reviews corrections research sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) pertaining to prison construction, privatization, career criminals, and drugs and crime.
NIJ-sponsored research has examined prison construction factors, developed information resources for prison construction, and suggested strategies for resolving problems typically encountered in prison construction. Research has addressed improvement in prison efficiency and cost effectiveness through the privatization of prison management and operations and the development of prison industries. NIJ research has also focused on the development of more accurate methods of classification useful in identifying career criminals and refining the use of selective incapacitation for high-risk offenders. NIJ research has shown that drug abusers are frequently highly active and violent offenders, and drug research has also produced information useful for pretrial, probation, sentencing, and parole decisions pertaining to drug abusers. NIJ is examining various sentencing alternatives to incarceration, with particular attention to means for ensuring public protection.