NCJ Number
132748
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 14 Issue: 6 Dated: (July-August 1989) Pages: 1,4-17
Date Published
1989
Length
15 pages
Annotation
A 1988 survey of violence in prisons in the United States found that violent deaths dropped from 118 in 1984 to 62 in 1988 while assaults on staff increased from 6,047 to 9,220.
Abstract
In addition, 11 inmates were killed by correctional personnel during prison disturbances during 1987 and 1988; inmate suicides increased from 114 to 136 which was slower than the rate of prison growth. The survey received responses from all 50 States, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the District of Columbia, and 12 of 13 Canadian systems. Respondents listed inmate assaults on inmates, drugs and drug selling, inmate gangs, and contraband as the main problems related to violence. However, prison overcrowding was listed as the reason for violence. Better staff training, changed attitudes among correctional personnel, changes in inmate attitudes, and more rapid increases in the number of correctional guards than in the number of inmates are regarded as the main reasons that violence has not increased more rapidly. Case examples, data on Canadian inmate violence, and chart showing State-by-State results