NCJ Number
101780
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 50 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1986) Pages: 35-43
Date Published
1986
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study analyzes monitoring results of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' system for assigning inmates to institutions (security designation) and to various supervision levels (custody classification) within institutions based on background and behavioral variables.
Abstract
This security and custody system, implemented in 1979, replaced an informal approach which relied on discretionary decisionmaking. The new method quantifies decisionmaking factors and shifts the focus of classification procedures from the diagnostic-medical model to the humane control model. Since 1981, the Bureau of Prisons has monitored the system by recording monthly security and custody breakdowns, as well as inmate misconduct and escape information for each of its approximately 50 institutions. Overall, the monitoring data show a strong relationship between both inmate and institutional security level and inmate misconduct. This finding reflects favorably on the validity of the security and custody designations system. Higher security-level inmates in higher security facilities are more likely to be involved in misconduct of all types. These relationships, however, are less clear within institutional security levels. Data suggest that at middle security levels, lower average inmate security and custody levels are related to higher misconduct rates. At higher security institutions, however, higher average inmate security levels are associated with higher misconduct levels. Tabular and graphic data; 9 references.