NCJ Number
91934
Date Published
1982
Length
126 pages
Annotation
This report provides statistical data on characteristics of residents in Massachusetts on January 1, 1982, including prerelease facilities but excluding patients in Bridgewater State Hospital and individuals awaiting trial. These profiles cover offense variables, personal background, criminal history, and furlough participation.
Abstract
The report has two sections: the first lists 13 nonprerelease institutions individually and combines prerelease facilities into 1 column, while the second lists the 13 prerelease facilities and combines the other institutions. In summary, 3,690 individuals were incarcerated in the system as of January 1982, a 20-percent increase over the previous year. Of this group, 19 percent were in maximum security, 57 percent in medium security, 11 percent in minimum security, and 13 percent in prerelease facilities. Nearly half the inmates were sentenced from Suffolk and Middlesex Superior Courts. While 55 percent of the residents were serving maximum sentences, 14 percent were lifers. The most frequently committed offense of this population was armed robbery. The median age at incarceration was 24 years, and 95 percent of the population was male. Blacks accounted for 31 percent, whites 63 percent, Hispanics 5 percent, and the remainder were native Americans and Asiatics. More than half the population was single, and 77 percent held manual or service jobs prior to incarceration. The median education level was 10th grade. The median age of first court appearance was 16 years. About 27 percent had been committed to the Department of Youth Services, and 58 percent had served some prison time as adults. Only 21 percent had received furloughs during 1981, usually residents of minimum security and prerelease facilities. Other areas covered include committing institution, present offense, jail credits, military experience, place of residence, drug use, and parole.