Abstract
This note presents results from an aggregate-level study of several possible correlates of inmate crowding in county jails during 1983 (n=505) and 1988 (n=522). Findings revealed that jurisdiction variables (court caseload, degree of urbanism) and state variables (sentencing practices, degree of prison inmate crowding) are at least as significant as jail variables (type of standards, frequency of inspections, enforcement system for standards, inmate population composition) for predicting the degree of inmate crowding. This suggests that policies designed to reduce crowding should be sophisticated enough to account for the possible effects of all three groups of variables.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allinson, R. (1982). Crisis in the Jails: Overcrowding is now a national epidemic.Correct. Mag. April: 18–24.
Berry, B., and Kasarda, J. (1977).Contemporary Urban Ecology, Macmillan, New York.
Bolduc, A. (1985). Jail crowding.Ann. Am. Acad. Polit. Soc. Sci. 478: 47–57.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (1983).National Jail Census: 1983, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (1988).National Jail Census: 1988, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Church, T. (1978).Justice Delayed: The Pace of Litigation in Urban Trial Courts, National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, Va.
Clear, T. and Cole, G. (1986).American Corrections, Brooks/Cole, Monterey, Calif.
Etzioni, A. (1961).A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations, Free Press of Glencoe, Illinois.
Fazio, E. T. (1984).Early Representation by Defense Counsel-Field Test, Final Report, URSA Institute, San Francisco, Calif.
Flynn, E. E. (1973). Jails and criminal justice. In Ohlin, L. (ed.),Prisoners in America, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Gist, N., and Fava, S. (1974).Urban Society, Harper and Row, New York.
Greiner, L. E. (1967). Patterns of organizational change.Harvard Bus. Rev. 45: 119–128.
Handberg, R. (1982). Jails and correctional farms: The neglected half of rural law enforcement.J. Correct. Educ. 32: 20–23.
Hanushek, E. A., and Jackson, J. E. (1977).Statistical Methods for Social Scientists, Academic Press, New York.
Heinzelman, F. (1984).Jail Drivers: Impact on the Criminal Justice System-Research in Brief, National Institute of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Irwin, J. (1985).The Jail: Managing the Underclass in American Society, University of California Press, Berkeley.
Jackson, P. G. (1988). The uses of jail confinement in three counties.Policy Stud. Rev. 7: 592–605.
Juszkiewicz, J. (1988). Dealing effectively with crowded jails: The judge's role.Policy Stud. Rev. 7: 581–591.
Kerle, K., and Ford, F. (1982).The State of Our Nation's Jails, National Sheriff`s Association, Washington, D.C.
Klofas, J. (1987). Patterns of jail use.J. Crim. Just. 15: 403–411.
Klofas, J. (1990). Measuring jail use: A comparative analysis of local corrections.J. Res. Crime Delinq. 27: 295–317.
Mattick, H. (1974). The contemporary jails of the United States: An unknown and neglected area of justice. In Glaser, D. (ed.),Handbook of Criminology, Rand McNally, Chicago.
Mays, G. L. (1989). The impact of federal sentencing guidelines on jail and prison overcrowding and early release. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Washington, D.C., March 28–April 1.
Mays, G. L., and Thompson, J. A. (1991). The political and organizational context of American jails. In Thompson, J. A., and Mays, G. L. (eds.),American Jails: Public Policy Issues, Nelson-Hall, Chicago.
Moynahan, J. M. and Stewart, E. K. (1980).The American Jail: Its Growth and Development, Nelson-Hall, Chicago.
Poole, E. D., and Pogrebin, M. R. (1991). Changing jail organization and management: Toward improved employee utilization. In Thompson, J. A., and Mays, G. L. (eds.),American Jails: Public Policy Issues, Nelson-Hall, Chicago, IL.
Rothman, D. (1980).Conscience and Convenience, Little, Brown, Boston.
Sykes, G., and Vito, G. (1987). Jail populations and crime rates: An exploratory analysis of incapacitation.J. Police Sci. Admin. 15: 72–77.
Thompson, J. A., and Mays, G. L. (1988). State-local relations and the American jail crisis: An assessment of state jail mandates.Policy Stud. Rev. 7: 567–580.
U.S. Bureau of the Census (1972).Census of Population and Housing: 1970, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Bureau of the Census (1982).Census of Population and Housing: 1980, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Weber, M. (1947).The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, Free Press of Glencoe, Glencoe, II.
Zimring, F., and Hawkins, G. (1991).The Scale of Imprisonment, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wooldredge, J.D. Identifying possible sources of inmate crowding in U.S. jails. J Quant Criminol 7, 373–386 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01066589
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01066589