NCJ Number
85966
Date Published
1982
Length
31 pages
Annotation
Based on data from earlier studies, this report concludes that violent offenders are better candidates for incapacitation and worse candidates for conventional rehabilitation efforts than any other criminal types.
Abstract
Existing rehabilitation programs may prove more effective than they currently seem to be if they focus on the less serious, but still highly active offenders. Survey results of adult male prison and jail inmates in California, Michigan, and Texas indicate that criminals can be categorized according to the combinations of crimes they commit. The most serious category of offenders commit robbery, assault, and drug deals. The typical violent criminal began persistently using hard drugs as a juvenile and began committing violent crimes before the age of 16. Ten subgroups of offenders are identified. Analysis shows that information currently available from official arrest and conviction records does not allow meaningful distinctions to be made between the violent offender (predator) and other types of offenders. However, potentially available information on specific forms of drug use, employment, and juvenile drug use and violence can help criminal justice officials distinguish between these various types of offenders. Footnotes and five references are provided. (Author summary modified)