State and Federal Prisoners

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 1990 and 1998 the rate of incarceration in American prisons rose from 292 to 461 sentenced inmates for every 100,000 residents. During that same period, the number of prisoners rose from about 774,000 to about 1,302,00--an average annual increase of 6.7 percent. This report analyzes survey data collected from prisoners by the Bureau on personal demographics, family background, criminal record, drug history, and participation in treatment by state and federal inmates in 1998 to determine any differences between state and federal inmates or by current offense type, race, or gender. GAO also compared 1991 and 1997 data to determine any changes in inmate profiles of state and federal prisoners or by offense type, race, or gender. In 1997, most state and federal prisoners were male, minority, and unmarried and employed in the month before arrest. Comparing 1991 and 1997, the primary change in personal demographics for state prisoners was their age?32 percent were more than 35 in 1991, compared with 42 percent in 1997. For federal prisoners, the most significant change was racial composition: in 1991, whites comprised 38 percent and blacks 30 percent of inmates, compared with 30 percent whites and 38 percent blacks in 1997. In comparing state prisoners with federal prisoners, one of the biggest differences was in the type of crime for which they were imprisoned. For example, drug offenders accounted for more than 60 percent of federal inmates in 1997 but only 20 percent of state inmates, while violent offenders accounted for 47 percent of state inmates compared with 15 percent of federal inmates in 1997.

GAO noted that: (1) in 1997, the majority of inmates in state and in federal prisons were male, minority, and unmarried; (2) most inmates had either a high school degree or its equivalent; (3) in 1997, at least two-thirds of both federal and state inmates reported being employed in the month before arrest (4) comparing 1991 and 1997, primary changes in personal demographics involved the age of inmates in state prisons and racial compositions; (5) in 1997, 44 percent of state inmates and 54 percent of federal inmates reported growing up in homes with both parents present; (6) although in 1997, the majority of inmates reported no family history of drug or alcohol abuse, 31 percent of the state inmates and 20 percent of the federal inmates reported that they had lived with parents who abused drugs or alcohol; (7) while most inmates in 1997 reported that they had experienced no sexual or physical abuse as children, differences between men and women were dramatic; (8) in state prisons in 1997, 47 percent of the inmates reported that they had been sentenced for violent crimes, 22 percent for property crimes and 20 percent for drug crimes, compared to 15 percent of federal inmates who reported that they had been sentenced for violent crimes, 6 percent for property crimes, and 62 percent for drug crimes; (9) in both federal and state prisons in 1997, minority inmates were more likely to be incarcerated for drug crimes; (10) 75 percent of state inmates and 60 percent of federal inmates in 1997 reported that they had served prior sentences; (11) 46 percent of state inmates and 27 percent of federal inmates in 1997 reported that they were on probation or parole at the time of their most recent arrest; (12) the percentage of federal inmates who reported no prior sentences decreased by almost 10-percentage points from 1991 to in 1997, while the percentage of inmates who reported 3 or more prior sentences increased by 8 percentage points; and (13) in 1997, 56 percent of inmates and 46 percent federal inmates reported they had participated in alcohol/drug treatment programs.