• 

• 

• 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Ofticc of Justice Programs 

Bureau of Justice Statistics 

Comparing Federal and 

State Prison Inmates, 1991 

Pbrcent of Inmates 

Characteristic Federal State 

Male 92% 95% 

Female 8 5 

White 38% 35% 

Black 30 46 

Other race 4 2 

Hispanic 28 17 

Median age 36 years 30 years 

Married 38% 18% 

Widowed, divorced, 

or separated 30 27 

Never married 33 55 

At least a high 

school graduate 77% 59% 

Citizen of a 

foreign country 18% 4% 

Violent 17% 47% 

Property 10 25 

Drug 58 21 

Public-order 12 7 

Number of 

sentenced 

inmates 54,000 704,000 

Criminal history 

No 

previous 

sentence 

-1 

Never 

violent 

recidivists 

I Federal 

Ever 

violent 

recidivists 

0% 

State 

25% 

Percent of inmates 

Total IJt?i;jii#Dfi"tf s~at: ed e ra I 

Publicorder 

o 30 60 90 

Months to be served 

from sentencing to predicted release 

50% 

l 

120 
Bureau of Justice Statistics 

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1991: NCJ.145861: 2194 1988, NCJ·122385. 4/90 

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NCJ·137002. 4/92 

State and Federal Institutions, 1926·8S 

Fiace of prisoners admitted, NCJ·125618. 

6191 

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NCJ·l11096.6/68 

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of Local Jails. NCJ·134728. 9/92 

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Drugs and loll In matos, NCJ·130836. 8/91 

Profile 011011 Inmates, 1911i, 

NCJ·l~!9097. 4/91 

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NCJ·122299.3/90 

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Summary and methodology, Vol, I, 

NCJ·127992.3/91 

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NCJ·130769·130762, 9/91 

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findings, vol. V, NCJ·112795. 11188 

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Violators, NCJ·149076. 9/94 1993 (press roloaso). NCJ·149730. 9194 

1992, NCJ.146412. 9/94 

1990, NCJ·133285. 11191 

Recldlvlsrr of young parolees, 

NCJ·l04916.5187 

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record Information: A comprehensive 

report, NCJ·143501. 11193 

Survey of criminal hlst.ory Information 

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Report of the National Task Farce on 

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Reporting, NCJ·135836. 6/92 

Attorney General's program for Improving 

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BJS Implementallon status report, 

NCJ·134722.3192 

Identifying felons Who allemptto 

purchase firearms, NCJ·144393, 10189 

Idontlfylng persons, other than felons, 

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NCJ·123050, 3190. $9.90 

Assessing completeness and accuracy 

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Audit guide, NCJ·133651. 2/92 

Fcrenslc DNA analysis: tssues, 

NCJ·128567.0/91 

Statutes requiring uee of criminal history 

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Original records 01 ontry, NCJ·125626. 1191 

Strategies for Improving data quality, 

NCJ·115339,5189 

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NCJ·l04342,4/87 

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12/66 

Expert wltnass manual, NCJ·77927. 9/61. 

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BJS bullo/ms report). NCJ·11336S. 9/8B 

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11/93 

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NCJ·t43288 9/93 

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1990 (BJS bullolln). NCJ·135777. 9/92 

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$1225 

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tachllleal roport). NCJ·133018. 3/92 

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NCJ·113560, l'8S. $770 

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Prevontlng domostlc vlolonce ,golnot 

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NCJ~13J284. 2i92 

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2/92 

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NCJ·119220. 8189 

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Drugs and crime facts, H)93, NCJ·146246. 8194 

Druga, crime, and the Ius lice system: 

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Technical appendix, NCJ·139578. 6/93 

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NCJ·139562.6193 

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NCJ·122715.4190 

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with preliminary data for 1992, 

NCJ·144520. 11193 

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1990, NCJ·143499. 9i93 

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NCJ·142524, 1 t/93 

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10/93 

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NCJ·142523.6I93 

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NCJ·145318.6/94 

BJS FY 1994 program plan, NCJ·148138. 6/94 

Firearms and crimes of vlolenco: Selected 

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analysis: Tacoma, Wash" and New 

Bedford, Moss .. NCJ·145860. 6/04 

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(Tochnlcal Roporl) , NCJ~144765. 11193 

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Report to the Notion on crime and luellce: 

Second odltlon, NCJ~105506. 6180 

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• 

• 

• 
• 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

Bureau of Justice Statistics 

Comparing Federal and 

State Prison Inmates, 

1991 

By Caroline Wolf Harlow 

BJS Statistician 

September 1994, NCJ .. 145864 

U.S. Department of Justice 

National Institute of Justice 

145864 

This document has been reproduced exactly as received from the 

person or organization originating It. Points of view or opinions stated In 

this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent 

the oHiclal position or policies of the National Institute of Justice. 

Permission to reproduce this ~"tn' material has been 

grrmtect.by • ~ ~ PUbl~c IOrnam, OJP ~lS 

u.s. Deaprtment of Justice 

to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). 

Further reproduction outside of the NCJRS system requires permission 

of the lIIIIIIIiIJIloowner. 

DEC 1994 
U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

Bureau of Justice Statistics 

Jan M. Chaiken 

Director 

Acknowledgments. Caroline Wolf 

Harlow, Statistician, Bureau of Justice 

Statistics, wrote this report. Allen Beck 

reviewed the report, and Tom Hester 

edited It. Darrell GIlliard and Jodi Brown 

provided statistical assistance, Betty 

Sherman and Tom Hester produced 

the report. Jayne Robinson, Yvonne 

Boston, and Marilyn Marbrook, Chief of 

Publications, prepared the report for final 

publication. 

Allen Eeck and Caroline Wolf Harlow 

developed the survey questionnaire and 

monitored data collection for the Survey 

of Inmates In State Correctional Facilities, 1991. At the Bureau of Prisons 

Christopher A, Innes and Susan Ann 

Kline modified the State questionnaire 

for the Federal population, drew the 

sample, and monitored data collection 

of the Survey of Inmates In Federal 

Correctional Facilities, 1991, 

Marlta Perez and Linda Ball of the 

Demographic Surveys Division, the 

Bureau of the Census, collected and 

processed the data for both surveys 

under the supervision of Gertrude Odom 

and Lawrence McGinn, Christopher 

Alaura, Mildred Strarlge, Dave Pysh, 

and Caroline Jenkins of the DemographIc Surveys Division furnished program 

support under the supervision of David 

Watt and Stephen Phillips. 

Christopher Innes, Chief of Statistical 

Reporting, and Susan Kline, Research 

Analyst, Bureau of Prisons, provided 

consultation and comments on the 

analysis of Federal data. 

September 19£4. NCJ-145864 

II ComparIng Federal and State PrIson Inmates, 1991 

c~ents IE • 

Foreword by Deputy Director 

Bureau of Justice Statistics III 

Summary 

Inmate characteristics 2 

The data 2 

Cha.'acterlstlcs of sentenced Federal 

and State prison Inmates 2 

Current offenses 3 

Sentence length and time 

to be served 5 

Recidivism 6 

Drug use 8 

Drug treatment programs 10 

Alcohol and drug use at the time 

of the offense 12 

Firearms 14 

Family background 15 

Parental drug and alcohol 

abuse 15 

Family members Incarcerated 16 

Physical or sexual abuse 16 

Prisoners with children 17 

Activities In prison 19 

Furloughs 20 

HIV Infection 21 

Conditions of confinement 

In Federal prisons 23 

Federallnmates' opinions 

of confinement conditions 24 

Methodology 25 

Sample design 25 

Accuracy of the estimates 25 

• 
• 

• 

Foreword 

In 1991 the Bureau of Justice Statistics 

(8JS) and the Federal Bureau of Prlsons 

(BOP) sponsored the first Joint survey 

of prisoners held In Stata and Federal 

prisons. Interviews were conducted 

among Inmates housed In 53 Federal 

prisons and 273 State prlsors. A State 

sample consisting of about 14,000 

prisoners and a Federal sample of 

approximately 6,600 prisoners were 

queried Individually about their social 

and criminal histories. p,t the time of the 

surveys, Federal prisons accounted for 

about 7% of all sentenced prisoners and 

State facilities held 93% of all sentenced 

prisoners. This collaborative effort 

represented the single largest collection 

of Information on prisoners ever 

undertaken In the United States. 

The Surveys revealed differences and 

similarities between the two populations 

of prisoners: 

• Federal Inmates are generally older, 

better educated, more likely to be 

Hispanic, and less likely to be black than 

State inmates. More likely than State 

prisoners to be employed prior to arrest, 

tha Faderallnmates generally have a 

less extensive criminal history and less 

violence In their past. 

• Serving a shorter sentence on 

average, the Federal Inmates expect 

to remain In prison longer than State 

Inmates. 

• Oompared to State prisoners, Federal 

Inmates are less likely to have tested 

positive for HIV. 

• Federal Inmates are more likely than 

State Inmates to have been Involved 

In work or education programs since 

admission, but among drug users, participation In drug treatment programs Is 

about the same for both populations. 

• Federal prisoners are about 3 times as 

likely as State prisoners to have been 

convicted of drug trafficking. 

• The majority of State prisoners (93%) 

and Federal prisoners (61%) are In 

prison for a violent offense or have a 

prior conviction that resulted In a 

sentence to Incarceration or probation. 

• Federal Inmates expect to serve 

almost 50% more of their sentence than 

do Stnte Inmates. 

II State prisoners are more likely than 

their Federal counterparts to have been 

raised In broken homes and In families 

where other famlly members had also 

served time or had abused alcohol or 

drugs. 

• Noncitizens account for nearly 1 In 5 

Federal prisoners but about 1 In 25 

State prisoners. 

• Federal and State prisoners are not 

greatly dissimilar with respect to the 

carrying of firearms during their crimes 

(12% of Federal prisoners and 16% of 

State prisoners), but they are substantially different In whether they fired the 

weapon during the crime. 

This report Is the second In a series 

of reports describing the 1991 Survey 

of Inmates In State Correctional F~cll~ 

Itles. The first, Survey of State Prison 

Inmates, 1991, Wf ~ released in March 

1993. The third report In the series, 

Profile of Inmates in the United States 

and in England and Wales, 1991, will be 

released In early fall 1994. In addition, 

other reports detailing the backgrounds 

and characteristics of women In prlf:lon, 

probation and parole violators In prison, 

the prevalence of Imprisonment, and 

offenders who commit their crimes 

against children will be released In the 

near future. 

On behalf of BJS, I would like to express 

my appreciation to J. Michael Quinlan, 

the former director of BOP, and to 

Kathleen Hawk, the current director, for 

their partlolpatlon in the surveys of State 

and Federal prisoners. I would also like 

to thank Dr. Gerald Gaes, director of 

research at BOP, and the numerous 

staff and officials of State and Federal 

correctional facilities across the country 

who permitted us this unique opportunity 

to collect this Information. Finally, I want 

to thank Oensus Bureau officials generally, and the Interviewers from the 

Field Division of tile Bureau particularly, 

for carrying out these Interviews In often 

difficult situations. 

Lawrence A. Greenfeld 

Deputy Director 

Comparing Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 iii 
Summary • ~-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-

In 1991,58% of Fed&1'al prisoners (an 

estimated 31,100 InmatflQ) and 21 % of 

State prisoners (149,200) were serving 

a sentence for a drug offense. Drug 

traffickers were 43% of Federal offenders and 13% of State prisoners. 

A fourth of Federal Inmates serving time 

for a drug offense other than possession 

belonged to an Illegal drug organIzation. 

About 9% belonged to an organization 

with 11 or more members. 

These findings about the predominance 

of drug offenders among Federal Inmates come from separate, but similar, 

surveys of State and Federal Inmates. 

For the first time, In the summer 

of 1991, Inmates were selected In nationally representative samples of both 

the Federal and State prison populations. They responded to questions 

about their past and current lives In 

lengthy personal Interviews. The 

simultaneous surveys document how 

the two populations differ and are alike. 

• 

Other major findings Include the 

following: 

• 

Current offense 

I> About 17% of Federal Inmates and 

47% of State Inmates were In prison 

for a violent offense. Murder accounted 

for 2% of Federal prisoners and almost 

11 % of State Inmates. 

Sentence length and 

tIme to be served 

.. On average, Federal Inmates were 

expected to serve almost 6 Y2 years 

on a sentence of almost 10 Y2 years, 

and State Inmates, 5112 years on a sentence of 12 Y2 years. 

Crimina! history 

• About 61% of Federal Inmates and 

93% of State Inmates had been on 

probation or Incarcerated before their 

current sentence or were s~rvlng a 

sentence for a violent crime. 

Drug and alcohol use 

• Federal Inmates reported less drug 

use than State Inmates. 

42% of Federal Inmates and 

62% of State Inmates had 

ever used drugs regularly 

32% of Federal Inmates and 

50% of State Inmates had 

used drugs In the month before 

their current offense 

17% of Federal Inmates and 

31% of State Inmates were using 

drugs when they committed 

their current offense. 

• Federal Inmates were half as likely as 

State Inmates to have been under the 

Influence of alcohol or drugs when they 

committed their current offense (24% 

versus 49%). Eleven percent of Federal 

prisoners and 32% of State prisoners 

were under the Influence of alcohol. 

• Federal Inmates reported slightly lower 

levels of participation In drug treatment 

than State Inmates. Among those who 

had used drugs In the month before their 

current offense, about 43% of Federal 

Inmates and 48% of State inmates had 

been In a drug treatment program since 

their admission to prison; 15% of Federailnmates and 20% of State Inmates 

were participating at the time of the 

survey. 

Weapons 

• About 12% of Federal prisoners and 

16% of State prisoners were armed 

when they committed the offense for 

which they were serving time. 

• Among violent offenders 38% In 

Federal prison and 29% In State prison 

had carried a firearm when committing 

their current offense. 

• About a quarter of Fedel'allnmates 

who carried a firearm during the crime 

discharged the weapon. More than 

half of State of/enders In prison who 

committed theIr crime with a gun 

dlsoharged It. 

Personal and family characteristics 

• Federal Inmates were more likely than 

State Inmates to bewomen (8% versus 5%), 

Hispanic (28% versus 17%), 

age 45 or older (22% versus 10%), 

married (38% versus 18%), 

with some college education 

(28% versus 12%), 

noncitizens (18% versus 4%), 

employed prior to their t.rrest 

(74% versus 67%), and 

raised In a two-parent home 

(58% versus 43%). 

• Federal Inmates were less likely than 

State Inmates to havelived In a foster home 

(8% versus 17%), 

parents who abused alcohol or drugs 

(16% versus 27%), 

a relative who had been Incarcerated 

(26% versus 38%), and 

been physically or sexually abused 

at some time before entering prison 

(6% versus 14%). 

• An estimated 62% of Federal Inmates 

were parents of 70,300 children under 

age 18, and 57% of State Inmates were 

parents of 818,000 minor children. 

HIV 

• A smaller percentage of Federal 

Inmates (0.8%) than State Inmates 

(2.2%) reported testing positive for the 

hUman Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 

that causes AIDS. These findings are 

based on 59% 01 Federal Inmates and 

51 % of State Inmates who knew they 

had been tested for the HIV and could 

report the test results. 

ActivIties since admIssion 

• About 58% of Federal Inmates and 

46% of State Inmates had enrolled In 

a school program since their admission. 

About 3 In 10 had attended a vocational 

program. 

• An estimated 91 % of Federal inmates 

and 70% of State prisoners had a job 

while In prison. Of these, about 98% 

of the Federal prisoners and 88% of tho 

State prisoners received some form 

of compensation. 

Comparing Federal and state Prison Inmates, 1991 
Inmate characteristics 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-. 

The data 

In 1991 the Bureau of Justice Statistics 

(BJS) Interviewed a scientifically select· 

ed sample of 13,986 State prison 

Inmates, asking them about their current 

offense, criminal history, family and 

employment background, their drug and 

alcohol use, and their activities In prison 

In confidential face-to-face Interviews. 

At the same time the Federal Bureau 

of Prisons (BOP) conducted a similar 

survey of 6,572 sentenced Federal 

prisoners, using a version of the BJS 

questionnaire. These two surveys 

provide data on over 54,000 Inmates 

In Federal prisons and 711,000 In State 

prisons. 

The BOP survey Included only the 78% 

of Inmates who were sentenced. In 

1991, excluding contracted custody, 

BOP confined 65,828 who were either 

sentenced Inmates or detainees awaiting trial, deportation, or other procedures. Therefore, the data presented 

here also exclude the 1% of unsentenced State InmateQ, and the results 

will differ somewhat from those In 

previous BJS reports. (See Methodology 

on page 25 for more Information.) 

Characteristics of sentenced Federal 

and State prison Inmates 

In size the Federal sentenced prison 

population (54,000) was much smaller 

than the total number (704,000) In State 

prisons (table 1). Oompared to Individual States, the Federal prison system 

held more Inmates than every State 

except Oallfornla and New York. 

The Federal Inmate population had 

higher percentages than the overall 

State population of women, Hispanics, 

married persons, older prisoners, the 

beUer educated, and noncitizens. 

Almost 8% of sentenced Federal prison 

Inmates were women, compared to Just 

over 5% of State Inmates. 

Black, Asian, Native American, and 

Hispanic Inmates accounted for more 

than 6 In 10 sentenced prisoners In both 

Federal and State Institutions. However, 

Federal Inmates were more likely than 

State Inmates to be Hispanic (28% 

versus 17%) and less likely to be black 

(30% versus 46%). 

Federal Inmates were older on average 

than State Inmates. OVer half of sentenced Federal Inmates and less than a 

third of sentenced State Inmates were 

35 or older. Federal Inmates were about 

Table 1. Characteristics of sentenced I 

Federal and State prison Inmates, 

1991 

Sex 

Male 

Femal') 

Race/Hlspanlo origin 

White non·Hlspanlo 

Black non-Hispanic 

Other' 

Hlspanlo 

Age 

17 or younger 

18-24 

25-34 

35·44 

45-54 

55·64 

65 or older 

Median age 

Marital status 

Married 

Widowed 

Separated 

Divorced 

Never married 

Eduoatlon 

8th grade or less 

Some high school 

High school graduate 

Some college 

College graduate or more 

Median eduoatlon 

Military servloe 

Veteran 

Vietnam era Other 

Nonveteran 

Citizenship 

United States 

Other countries 

Mexico 

Central or South America 

Other 

Number of Inmates 

92.2% 

7.8 

38.4% 

29.9 

3.8 

28.0 

0% 

9.3 

36.0 

32.9 

15.0 

5.7 

1.1 

36 yr 

37.9% 

1.8 

6.7 

21.0 

32.6 

11.0% 

12.3 

48.5 

18.8 

9.3 

12 yr 

19.9% 

4.2 

15.7 

80.1 

61.6% 

18.4 

4.1 

6.3 

8,0 

94.6% 

5.4 

35.4% 

45.6 

2.4 

16.6 

.6% 

21.3 

45.7 

22.7 

6.5 

2.4 

.7 

30 yr 

18.2% 

1.9 

6.2 

18.5 

55.3 

14.2% 

26.9 

46.5 

10.0 

2.3 

12 yr 

16.3% 

2.7 

13.6 

83.7 

95,6% 

4.4 

2.1 

.6 

1.7 

54,006 704,203 

Note: Data were missing for marital status on 1.:l% of cases, for eduoatlon on 0.6%, and for 

military service on 0.3% for Federal prison 

Inmates. Data were missing for marital status on 1.1% of oases. for eduoatlon on 0.7%, and for 

military service on 0.2% for State prison Inmates. 

'Includes Asians, Paolflc Islanders, and Native 

Americans. 

2 Comparing Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 

---.. ~~------~-~---~-.-~------~~---~---

twice as likely to be married as state 

Inmates. About a third of Federal 

Inmates and over half of State Inmates 

had never married. 

Twenty-eight percent of Federal Inmates 

and i.::% of State Inmates had attended 

college. Federal Inmates were over 3 

times as likely as State prisoners to 

have graduated from college (9% versus 

2%). 

Over 18% of Federal Inmates, compared 

to about 4% of State Inmates, were not 

·cltlzens. About 10% of Federal Inmates 

came from Mexico or countries In 

Central or South America; 3% of State 

Inmates were from latin America. 

Table 2. Pre-arrest employment 

and Income for sentenced Federal 

and State prisollinmates, 1991 

Pre·arrost employment 

Employed 

FUll-time 

Part-time 

Not employed 

Looking for work 

Not look!ng 

Pre·arrost Income 

Annual Income Q 

(Free at least 1 year) 

No Income 

Less than $::' .000 

$3.000-$4,999 

$5,000·$9,999 

$10,000-$14,999 

$15,000-$24,999 

$25.000 or more 

Number of Inmates 

Monthly Inoorne b 

(free less than 1 year) 

No Income 

Less than $300 

$300-$499 

$500-$999 

$1,000-$1,499 

$1,000,$2,499 

$2.000 or more 

Number of Inmates 

Federal State ~, -_. ? " .... ,~-;.t--., 

74.4% 

65.4 

9.0 

25.6 

10.0 

15.6 

3.1% 

11.8 

6.6 

16.2 

16.1 

18.9 

27.3 

44,436 

8.9% 

10.9 

7.6 

18.9 

17.0 

14.2 

22.6 

4,030 

67.4% 

55.5 

11.9 

32.6 

16.3 

16.3 

2.9% 

19.0 

9.8 

20.7 

17.1 

15.8 

14.7 

517,232 

6.7% 

15.4 

12.9 

22.7 

16.1 

9.7 

16.4 

130,726 

Nole: Pre-arrast employment data were missing 

for .8% of Federal Inmates and .6% of Stahl 

inmates. Income data were missing for 10.3% of 

Federallnmales and for 8% of Stale Inmates. 

aAnnuallncome figures based on Inmates who 

reported being frea at least 1 year prior to the 

offense for whloh they were sent to prison. b Monthly Income figures for Inmatos who were 

Iree leI'S than 1 year prior to 'he offen so for 

whloh they were sent to prlso," 

L--. 

• 

• 
• 

I • 

Three-quarters of Federal Inmates 

a,nd two-thirds of State Inmates were 

employed part time or full time before 

the arrest for their current offense (table 

2). About 15% of each group were 

unemployed and not looking for work. 

About 46% of Federal Inmates and 30% 

of State Inmates free at least 1 year before their arrest on current charges had 

a personal annual Income of $15,000 

or more, which was above the poverty 

level for a family of four In 1989. For the 

U.S. population in 1989, the per capita 

money Income just exceeded $14,000. 

Current offenses 

Almost 6 In 10 sentenced Federal Inmates were In prison for a drug offense, 

compared to 2 In 10 State Inmates 

(table 3). Almost half of State Inmates 

Table 3. Current oHensliI of senten cod Federal and State prison Inmates, 

by sex, 1991 

Percent of sentenced erison Inmates 

All Inmates Male Female 

9~r:r.~n),()1'~£ll!!l_. __ ~" __ .• ~.~. Fed~r& __ "§~!'.._-E~I'!!L~"§Lal~~_.E!>d..eral __ .~~ __ • 

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 

Violent offenses 17.3% 46.6% 18.1% 47.4% 7.7% 32.1% 

Murder" 1.9 10.6 2.0 lQ.6 1.1 11.8 

Negligent manslau:)hter .3 1.8 .3 1.7 .3 3.5 

Kidnaping 1.0 1.2 1.1 1.2 .6 .5 

Rape .3 3.5 .4 3.7 0 .4 

Other sexual assault .4 6.9 .4 6.2 .1 1.3 

Robbery 11.2 14.6 11.7 15.2 4.3 7.7 

Assault 1.6 1l.1 1.6 6.3 1.0 6.1 

Other vlolentb .6 .6 .6 .5 .4 1.0 

Property offenses 10.2% 24.6% 9.7% 24.6% 16.5% 26.6% 

Burglary .7 12.4 .6 12.9 .2 4.6 

Larcenyltheft .9 4.9 .6 4.6 1.9 11.1 

Motor vehicle theft .5 2.2 .5 2.3 .1 .7 

Arson .3 .7 .3 .7 .2 1.0 

Fraud" 6.9 2.6 6.3 2.4 13.0 10.3 

Stolen propert~ .6 1.4 .8 1.4 1.1 1.0 

Other propertyd .1 .4 ,2 .4 0 .1 

Drug offenses 67.9% 21.3% 57.3% 20.7% 65.5% 33.0% 

Possession 13.6 7.8 13.6 7.3 14.1 11.6 

Trafficking 42.9 13.3 42.4 12.9 49.7 19.8 

Other/unspeolfied 1.4 .5 1.3 .4 1.7 1.3 

Public-order offenses 12.4% 6.6% 12.6% 6.9% 6.6% 5.6% 

Weapons· 5.7 1.8 6.0 1.9 2.3 .6 

Other public-order' 6.6 5.0 6.8 5.0 6.3 5.0 

Other of(ensesQ 2.2% .4% 2.2% .4% 1.6% t6~~ 

Number of Inmates 53.689 699,701 49,472 661,811 4,217 36,090 

Note: Current offense data were available for 'Inoludes obstruction of ju~tlce, traffic, driving while 

99.4% of sentenced Federal prison Inmates and Intoxicated, driving under the Influence of drugs or 9~.4% of sentenced State prison Inmates. Detail alcohol, drunkennesi::, vagranoy, disorderly con- may not add to totals because of rounding. duct, unlawful assembly, morals, commercialized 

"Includes murder and non negligent manslaughter. vloe, parole or probation violations, esoape, AWOL, 

blncludes blaokmall. extortion, hit-and-run driving flight to avoid prosecutlan. rioting, abandonment, 

with bodily Injury, child abuse, and orlmlnal nonsupport. Immigration vlolallons, Invasion of 

endangerment. privacy, liquor law violations, tax eveslon. bribery, 

clncludes FedEiral offenses of embezzlement, fraud, and Federal regulatory and common criminal enterforgery. and counterfeiting. prise offenses, tax law vlolallons, racketBerlng, and 

dlncludes destruction of property, vandalism, hit- extortion. 

and-run driving without bodily Injury, Irespassln!l, 91ncludes Juvenile offenses and unspecified 

and possessIon of burglary tools. offenses, 

·'ncludes Federal firearm and axploslves violations • 

were serving a sentence for a violent 

offense, and a fourth for a property 

offense. Drug traffickers (43%) were the 

largest single group of Federal offend· 

ers; robbers (15%), the largest category 

of State offenders. About 2% of Federal 

prisoners were convicted of murder, the 

offense of 11 % of State Inmates. 

Current offenses of men and women 

In both Federal and State prisons, 

women were more likely than men to be 

convicted for drug and prrgerty offenses 

and less likely to be Incarcerated for 

violent crimes. 

• Drug offenses: 

Federal prison Inmates 

66% of women and 57% of men 

State prison Inmates 

33% of women and 21% of men 

e Property offenses: 

Federal prison Inmates 

17% of women and 10% of men 

State prison Inmates 

29% of women and 25% of men 

• Violent offenses: 

Federal prison Inmates 

8% of women and 18% of men 

State prison Inmates 

32% of women and 47% of men 

Comparing Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 3 
- 4 

Current offenses of whites, blacks, 

and Hispanics 

In both Federal and State prisons, black 

and Hispanic Inmates were more likely 

than whites to be serving a sentence for 

drug charges (table 4). Among Federal 

inmates about 80% of the Hispanics, 

55% of the blacks, and 46% of the 

whites were In prison for a drug offense. 

In State prisons drug offenders accounted for 33% of Hispanic Inmates, 25% of 

black Inmates, and 12% of white 

inmates. 

... 

White and black Inmates were 

Imprisoned for violent crimes more 

often than Hispanics. 

• Violent offenses: 

Federal prison Inmates 

19% of whites 

22 of blacks 

6 of Hispanics 

State prison Inmates 

49% of whites 

47 of blacks 

39 of Hispanics 

Table 4. Current offense of sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, 

by race and Hlllpanlc origin, 1991 

Total 100.0% 1 00.0% 100.0% 100.0%100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 

Violent olfenses 

Murder 

Negligent manslaughter 

Kidnapping 

Rape 

Other sexual assault 

Robbery 

Assault 

Other violent 

Property offenses 

Burglary 

Larceny/theft 

Motor vehlole thelt 

Arson 

Fraud 

Stolen property 

Olher property 

Drug offenses 

Possession 

Trafficking 

Other/unspecified 

Public-order offenses 

Weapons 

Other public-order 

Other offenses 

18.8% 49.1% 

1.3 11.8 

.1 2.0 

1.3 1.5 

.1 4.8 

.4 10.6 

13.7 10.3 

.9 7.4 

1.0 .7 

15.0% 30.2% 

.5 15.4 

1.1 5.4 

.9 2.4 

.7 1.1 

10.4 3.8 

1.2 1.5 

.2 .5 

46.3% 12.0% 

e.9 4.0 

38.2 7.7 

1.2 .3 

17.6% 8.3% 

7.0 1.2 

10.6 7.1 

22.4% 

2.7 

.4 

1.0 

.4 

.2 

15.4 

1.9 

.4 

11.0% 

1.4 

1.3 

.3 

.1 

6.9 

.8 

.1 

55.0% 

11.4 

42.1 

1.6 

10.1% 

8.7 

3.4 

2.3% .5% 1.5% 

47.2% 44.4% 

10.3 9.6 

1.7 4.0 

1.0 3.1 

3.1 4.4 

2.9 3.3 

19.2 7.3 

8.4 11.8 

.4 1.1 

53.4% 

12.1 

.7 

1.8 

6.3 

5.9 

12.8 

13.5 

.4 

22.1% 

10.5 

5.0 

1.9 

.4 

8.0% 28.5% 

2.5 

1.3 

.4 

1.0 12.0 

1.4 4.3 

o 2.3 

.5 .9 

4.7 5.0 

.5 3.3 

o .6 

6.0% 

.9 

o 

.4 

o 

.1 

3.7 

.7 

.3 

3.0% 

.3 

.2 

.1 

.1 

2.2 

.2 

.1 

38.9% 

8.8 

2.0 

.9 

1.7 

4.3 

127 

8.1 

.4 

20.5% 

11.5 

3.5 

2,3 

.5 

1.2 

1.0 

.4 

25.0% 32.4% 9.8% 80.5% 32.8% 

8.6 6.1 

15.7 25.1 

.6 1.2 

5.4% 10.2% 

2.2 8.0 

3.2 2.2 

2.0 26.2 13.1 

7.4 52.8 19.4 

.3 1,4 .4 

8,2% 

1.1 

7.1 

8.1% 

2.6 

5.5 

7.5% 

2.0 

5.5 

.4% 5.0% .1 % 2.3% .3% 

Number 

of Inmates 20,629247,46016.0.t4 319,351 2,021 16,553 15.015 116.317 

~--------------------------- Note: Data were available for 99,4% of 

Federal prison Inmates and 99.4% of Stale 

prison Inmatos. Dolall may not add to lotals 

because of rounding. 

"Non-Hlspanlo Inmates only. 

blncludes Asian. Pacific Islander. and Native 

American Inmates. 

°lncludos Hispanic Inmates of any race. 

4 ComparIng Federal and State PrIson Inmates, 1991 

CUrrent offenses of citizens 

and noncitizens 

Associated with the relatively large 

percentage of Hispanic Inmates serving 

a sentence for drug offenses, especially 

Federal offenses, noncitizens were more 

Ihly than citizens In both Federal and 

State prisons to be drug offenders (table 

5). In Federal prisons 85% of noncitizen 

Inmates and 52% of citizens were servIng a sentence for drug offenses; In 

State prisons, 45% of noncitizens and 

20% of citizens. By contrast, noncitizens were less likely than citizens to be 

In prison for violent offenses: 

In Federal facilities 2% of noncitizens 

and 21% of citizens and 

In State prisons 35% of noncitizens 

and 47% of citizens. 

Table 5. Current offense of sentenced 

Fedel'al and State prison Inmatas, 

by citizenship, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

Citizens Noncitizens 

9~U!t:.E!.I}!_.2.~.~Il~. _ .. -fil5J!lral. ~gate~ ... E~ger,aL~l§Ite_ 

Tolal 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 

Violent offenses 

Homicide 

Sexual assault 

Robbery 

Assault 

Other vlolAnl 

Property offenses 

Burglary 

Larceny/theft 

Fraud 

Other property 

Drug offenses 

Possession 

Trafficking 

Other/unspecified 

20.7% 

2.7 

.8 

13.5 

1.8 

1.9 

12.0% 

.9 

1.1 

8.0 

2.0 

47.1% 

12.5 

9.6 

15.1 

8.2 

1.7 

25.4% 

12.7 

5.0 

2.9 

4.8 

51.8% 20.2% 

10.3 7.0 

40.4 12.8 

1.2 .5 

Publlo-order olfensas 13.6% 6.8% 

Weapons 6.5 1.8 

Other publlo-order 7.1 5.0 

1.9% 35.2% 

.2 12.1 

.2 6.0 

.7 8.3 

.2 6.9 

.6 1.9 

2.4% 13.0% 

,1 8.0 

,2 2.1 

1.6 .2 

.5 2.8 

85.1% 45.2% 

28.5 19.7 

54.3 25.1 

2,2 .4 

7.4% 6.6% 

2.4 1.4 

5.1 5.3 

Number 

of Inmates 43.773 668,963 9,9Hl 30.716 

Note: Data were available for 99.4% of Federal prison 

Inmates and 99.4% of State prison Inmates. Delall may 

not add to totals because of rounding. 

• 

• 

• 
• Sentence length l,nd Inmates provided responses with an • Both Federal and State violent 

time to be served av'erage total time served of about 5 offenders had average sentenoes 

years. Half of State prison Inmates had of over 17 years. 

Legislative ohanges In the past 10 years sentenoes of 9 years or less and expeothave Influenoed the length of sentenoes ed to serve a total of just over 3 years. • Federal drug offenders had average 

to Federal prison and the time to be sentenoes of 9 Y2 years while State drug 

served on those sentenoes. The Sen- Overail, average sentenoe lengths for offenders reoelved just under 8 years. 

tenclng Reform Act of 1984 provided Federal prisoners were shorter than 

for sentencing guidelines for crimes those for State Inmates, but Federal • Property crime violators In Federal 

committed on or after November 1, Inmates expected to stay In prison prisons had mean sentences of just over 

1987, abolished parole, and limited longer. On average, Federal Inmates 6 years; State offenders had average 

good-time credits to 54 days per year. expected to serve 6.4 years on sen- sentences of 9 Y2 years. 

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act, 1986, esta- tences of 10.4 years, and State Inmates, 

bllshed mandatory minimum sentences 5.5 years on sentences of 12.5 years. Federal Inmates expected to stay longer 

for certain drug offenses. As a result of Federal Inmates (1.2%) were less likely than State Inmates for drug offenses but 

these changes, for persons convicted of than State Inmattls (2.1 %) to expeot about the same amount of time for 

a Federal offense, a higher percentage never to be released. violent and property orlmes. 

than previously are sentenoed to prison 

and stay there for longer periods.· At the time of Interview half of Federal • For drug offenses Federal Inmates 

Inmates had served 21 months or less, expeoted to serve almost 6 Y2 years and 

A smaller peroentage of Federal (2%) half of State Inmates 17 months or less, State Inmates 3 years, on average. 

than State (9%) inmates were sen- On average both prison populations had 

tenced to life. Half of Federal prison served just over 2 Y2 years. • For violent offenses Federal offenders 

Inmates had terms of 7 years or less expected to stay almost 9 Y2 years and 

(table 6). Asked when they expeoted Federal sentences were about the same State Inmates almost 8 Y2 years, on 

to be released from prison, Federal as State sentenoes for violent crimes, average. 

'See"Federal Sentallclng In Transition, 1986-90, higher for drug offenses, and lower for 

property orlmes, • For property orlmes the average time • BJS Speoial Report, NCJ-134727, June 1992 . to be served was around 3 Y2 years for 

both Federal and State prisoners, 

Table 6. Sentence length, time served to InterView, and total time to be served, 

by current offense for Federal snd State prison Inmates, 1991 

_~LC!!!l!ElJl\!!ncllJiL~,,_. __ . ______ 

Sentenoe le'll!!h In months To date of inter'tiew __ ,.. ._~Pllctegj!lE!.()f rei~~~:"'_. __ Median Mean Median Mean Median Mean 

9urren,tof!EllJs!l F~t!~r~L ." Stale ___ f.fl_cle!,.aL _ .. §tate , •.. fe.d.er!ll .. §tate F~der.al-:- Sta\!! Federer-' State" FederBi-~aii; "--"',- " . . -,.. .. 

Total 84 mo 108 mo 124 mo 150 mo 21 mo 17 mo 31 mo 32 mo 5,' mo 37 mo 77 mo 66 mo 

Violenl 180 180 210 216 46 31 62 49 89 70 113 101 

Murder life life 346 381 95 69 106 81 203 160 216 179 

Manslaughter 120 156 124 185 53 26 71 39 74 66 68 81 

Sexual assault 168 180 201 211 51 27 56 42 81 66 103 95 

Robbery 157 144 203 200 43 27 55 41 87 58 106 82 

Assault 83 114 143 158 23 18 33 32 47 43 59 68 

Other violent 240 180 264 217 61 24 82 45 103 72 125 97 

Property 46 60 74 114 16 12 29 20 29 26 40 43 

Burglary 120 96 151 140 30 15 43 24 59 32 68 51 

Larceny 32 48 57 72 9 9 21 16 19 18 32 34 

Fraud 38 60 61 98 10 16 27 20 34 31 

Other property 60 80 106 96 17 12 28 20 36 24 58 37 

Drug 84 60 114 95 20 11 24 16 59 24 77 36 

Possession 84 54 101 81 20 9 24 13 59 20 13 28 

Trafficking 84 72 116 104 20 12 25 17 59 26 78 40 

Other drug 109 48 115 70 18 9 22 16 77 21 82 39 

Public-order 60 48 111 83 18 9 25 16 48 20 65 33 

Weapons 63 54 97 74 18 12 23 17 53 21 65 32 

Other public-order 60 48 123 65 17 9 27 16 41 19 64 33 - 'Excludes Inmatlls who did nol know a date of 

rolease or who did not expect to be released. I 

ComparIng Federal and State PrIson Inmates, 1991 5 
Recidivism 

The criminal histories of Federal Inmates 

generally were shorter and contained 

less serious offenses than those of 

State Inmates. 

Prior sentences to probation 

and incarceration 

Federal Inmates (44%) were twice as 

likely as State Inmates (20%) to have 

never been on probation or In a correctional facility before their current offense 

(table 7). 

Around 4 In 10 Federal Inmates, compared to 61n 10 State Inmates, had 

previously served time In a Jail, prison, 

Table 7. Prior sentences to probation 

or Incarceration of sentenced Federal 

and State prison Inmates, 1991 

Percent of Inmates 

Erlor ,!~tenE1L ___ .. _E!lc!~1 ___ ._.§!i'!E!_. 

Probation 

None 

Juvenile only 

Adult only 

Both 

Number of times 

o 

1 

2 

3-5 

6-10 

11 or mora 

Incarceration 

None 

Juvenile only 

Adult only 

Both 

Number of limes 

o 

1 

2 

3-5 

6-10 

11 or mora 

Probation or Incarceration 

53.9% 

7.3 

30.7 

8.2 

53.9% 

27.6 

10.9 

6.7 

.9 

.2 

61.8% 

1.9 

29.0 

7.3 

61.8% 

17.8 

6.5 

8.0 

2.6 

1.3 

None 43.9% 

Juvenile only 4.3 

Adult only 37.4 

Both 14.5 

Numbor of IImas 

o 43.9% 

1 19.4 

2 13.0 ~5 15~ 

6-10 5.6 

11 or more 2.3 

Number of Inmates 53,027 

33.1% 

14.7 

33.6 

18.4 

33.1% 

34.4 

17.2 

12.3 

2.3 

.6 

40.4% 

4.1 

39.6 

15.9 

40.4% 

21.1 

13.0 

16.2 

6.0 

3.4 

20.2% 

6.1 

41.1 

30.6 

20.2% 

19.3 

16.2 

25.8 

12.5 

6.0 

691,671 

.--

or other correctional facility. About a 

third of Federal Inmates and over half 

of State Inmates had served time In a 

correctional facility as an adult. About 

9% of Federal Inmates and 20% of State 

Inmates had been Incarcerated as 

Juveniles. 

Inmates In Federal prisons were half 

as likely as those In State Institutions 

to have served three or more sentences 

to a correctional facility (12% versus 

26%), 

Less than half of Federal Inmates, como. 

pared to two-thirds of State Inmates, had 

been on probation before their current 

sentence: 

Previous adult probation - 39% of Federal Inmates and 

52% of State Inmates 

Previous Juvenile probation - 16% of Federal Inmates and 

33% of State Inmates. 

.<' 

Criminal histories 

While 61 % of Federal Inmates were 

serving a sentence for a violent crime or 

were either on probation or Incarcerated 

In the past, 93% of State Inmates were 

either recidivists or violent offenders 

(table 8). Twenty-seven percent of 

Federal Inmates and 61% of State Inmates had a past or current sentence 

for a violent offense. 

Table 8. Criminal history of sentenced 

Federal and State prison Inmates, 

1991 

Percent ollnmales 

Qrll!1ln!lLhLsl<!11' .. _. ... ... f.~~!!L ....sl!lJe . 

Tolal 100.0% 100.0% 

No previous sentence 43.3 19.3 

Current vlolenl offense 4.6 12.7 

Current nonviolent offense 38.7 6.5 

Violent recidivists 

Uurrenl and prior violent 

Currant violent only 

Prior violent only 

Nonviolent recidivists 

Prior minor public-order 

offenses only 

Other prior offenses 

Numbor of Inmates 

22.6 46.8 

7.4 17.3 

6.1 16.8 

9.1 12.7 

34.1 31.9 

2.3 1.2 

31.8 30.7 

53,164 693.373 

43% of Federal Inmates had never before 

served a sentence, and 49% of State 

Inmates were recidivists who were 

serving or had served a sentence 

for a Violent crime 

Criminal history 

No 

previous 

sente'lce 

r---. -----., 

Nonviolent 

recidivists 

Violent c:=J. .... .. ..... . re~~~ 

0% 

~ 

25% 50% 

Percent of Inmates 

Characteristics of prior sentences 

The curront sentence was the first 

tlmt1ln confinement for 61% of Federal 

Inmates and 39% of State Inmates; 43% 

of Federal Inmates and 19% of State 

Inmates were serving their first sentences, and 18% of Federal Inmates and 

19% of State Inmates had previously 

served only sentences to probation 

(table 9). About 4% of Federal Inmates 

and 8% of State Inmates had only been 

on probation or In a correctional facility 

as a Juvenile. Minor offenses, sllch as 

drunkenness, vagrancy, loitering, disorderly conduct, or minor traffic offenses, 

were the only prior offenses of 1 % to 2% 

of alilnrnates. 

Table 9. Characteristics of prior 

santences of sentenced Federal 

and State prison Inmates, 1991 

Charaoterlstlo of 

p!l~ s~nJ~nc.e~ ... 

Total 

Percenl of Inmates 

Federal-sf!l!!l., 

100.0% 100.0% 

First sentence 43.3 19.3 

Prior sentence 56.7 80.7 

To probation/lncarceration 56.7 aO.7 

Minor offenses only 2.3 1.3 

As a juvenile only 4.1 7.9 

To probation only 17.6 19.4 

As a Juvenile only 2.6 4.8 

To Incarceration 36.9 61.3 

As a Juvenile only 1.4 3.3 

Number ollnmus 53,164 693.373 

• 

• 

• 

6 Comparing Federal and State PrIson Inmates, 1991 
• 

• 

• 

Table 10. Criminal history of sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, 

by sex, 1991 

Percent of sentef10ed Inmates 

Male Female 

9rimJr1~L~ls~C1ry J:.flg.flra_I~ __ State~ Federal < __ ~ __ ~tate~~_"~. 

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 

No previous sentence 41.7% 18.7% 61.5% 28.3% 

Current violent offense 4.6 12.5 3.6 15.9 

Current nonviolent offense tl7.1 6.2 57.9 12.4 

Violent recidivists 23.9 50.1 7.2 25.6 

Current and prior violent 7.9 17.9 1.6 6.8 

Current violent only 6.4 19.3 2.7 10.7 

Prior violent only 9.6 12.9 2.9 8.1 

Nonviolent recidivists 34.4 31.2 31.2 46.1 

Prior minor public-order offenses only 2.4 1.2 2.0 2.0 

Other prior offenses 32.0 30.0 29.2 44.1 

Number of Inmates 49,001 655,628 4,163 37,745 

Note: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding. 

Criminal histories of men and women 

In both Federal and State prison populations, men were more likely than women 

to be recidivists and violent offenders 

(table 10). Among Federal Inmates, 

37% of the men and 58% of the women 

were serving their first sentence, which 

was for a nonviolent offense. Comparable percentages among State inmates 

were 6% of the men and 12% of the 

women. 

• An estimated 58% of men compared 

to 38% of women In Federai prison and 

81% of men compared to 72% of women In State prison had previously been 

on probation or In a correctional facility. 

• Twenty-nine percent of men and 11 % 

of women In Federal facilities had 

Table 11. Criminal history of sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, 

by racelHlspanlc origin, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

current or past violent sentences; 63% 

of men and 42% of women In State 

Institutions were violent offenders. 

Criminal histories of white, black, and 

Hispanic Inmates 

Hispanic Inmates in Federal prisons 

were less likely than white or black 

inmates to be recidivists (table 11). 

Hispanic Inmates in both Federal and 

State prison systems were less likely 

than other prisoners to have current or 

parH sentences for violent offenses. In 

Federal, but not State prisons, larger 

percentages of black inmates than white 

inmates were recidivists or had been 

convicted of a violent offense. 

Recidivist 

Federal 

State 

Present! 

past Violence 

Federal 

State 

Recidivist 

or present! 

past violence 

Federal 

State 

White 

61% 

80% 

29% 

62% 

66% 

95% 

Black 

67% 

82% 

37% 

64% 

72% 

94% 

Hispanic 

41 % 

78% 

11% 

51% 

43% 

89% 

White" Black" Otherb Hls{1anloc 

qrllTll~!Ilhis!o<ry ~,,- " £E!-t!~~L._ .. ~ •. ..§!!!~._eo~_ Federal State Federal .-.~~. ", .. Feder.~L_~gElt~ 

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 

No previous sentence 39.0 19.9 33.4 17.5 49.7 21.4 59.1 22.4 

Current violent offense 4.9 14.8 5.1 11.3 15.7 15.5 2.1 11.8 

Current nonviolent offense 34.1 5.1 28.3 6.2 34.0 5.9 57.0 1D.6 

Violent recidivists 24.4 47.3 31.5 53.1 36.0 51.4 6.9 39.6 

Current and prior violent 7.7 16.0 10.9 19.6 11.1 17.2 2.6 13.4 

Current violent only 6.9 21.1 7.5 18.2 17.9 23.0 2.0 15.0 

Prior violent only 9.7 10.1 13.1 15.3 7.0 11.2 4.3 11.1 

Nonviolent recidivists 36.6 32.8 35.1 29.4 14.3 27.2 32.0 38.0 

Prior minor public-order offenses only 2.2 1.4 2.4 1.1 .7 1.4 2.5 1.2 

Other prior offenses 34.4 31.4 32.7 28.3 13.6 25.8 29.5 36.8 

Number of Inmales 20,425 245,794 15,930 316,156 1,976 16.456 14,834 114.965 

Nota: Detail may not add to totals because 01 "Non-Hlspanlo Inmates only. American Inmates. 

rounding. blncludes Asian, Paclflo Islander, and Native °lnoludes Inmate,. of nny race. 

ComparIng Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 7 
M 

Table 1;;. Current offense of sentenced Fec!~ral and State prison Inmates, 

by criminal history, 1991 

Peroent of sentenced Inmates 

Recidivists 

No No prior 

-ELl!,vlous sentence violent offenses Prior violent offense 

9ll!£~t~Qf!~.sEl _ _ , ..______ Jederal ___ ~~Feder!IL __ .~JEl __ ~.El~~State __ ~ 

Total 100.0% 100.0% 

Violent offenses 9.9% 64.6% 

Homicide 1.9 2:5.4 

Sexual assault .S lS.1 

Robbery 4.6 13.2 

Assault 1.0 S.1 

Other violent 1.5 1.7 

Property offenses 7.8% 9.8% 

Burglary .1 4.4 

Larceny .5 1.8 

Fraud 6.5 1.7 

Other property .6 1.8 

Drug offenses 68.7% 21.6% 

Possession 17.0 6.5 

Trafficking 50.0 14.6 

Other drug 1.7 .5 

Public-order offenses 11.0% 3.4% 

Number of Inmates 23,005 133.467 

Note: Other offenses are omitted. Detail may not 

add to totals bllcause of rounding. 

Criminal history and current offense 

Most Federal Inmates without prior 

offenses or with a history of only 

nonviolent offenses were serving a 

sentence for a drug offense (table 12). 

Five In ten first time Inmates and over 

4 in 10 nonviolent recidivists were drug 

traffickers. About 7 In 10 Federal Inmates with no prior offenses and 2 In 10 

100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 

14.6% 35.0% 43.2% 54.7% 

1.9 9.5 3.8 10.3 

.5 6.2 .7 9.4 

9.7 11.5 32.4 21.6 

1.2 L.~ 3.6 11.3 

1.3 1.5 2.7 2.1 

13.4% 32.3% 8.4% 22.1 % 

1.2 16.4 1.1 11.1 

1.1 6.3 1.3 4.3 

8.1 3.8 4.4 1.9 

2.9 5.8 1.6 4.7 

57.2% 24.5% 31.1% 15.7% 

13.1 9.2 6.1 5.5 

42.7 14.9 24.7 9.6 

1.4 .4 .4 .5 

12.6% 7.9% 15.6% 7.3% 

21,377 352,296 8,769 207,590 

State Inmates were In prison for drugs. 

Compared to Inmates with no prior 

offense and tG retJidlvlsts with no prior 

Violent offense, Federal and State 

Inmates who were convicted In the past 

of a violent offense were less likely to be 

In prison for a current drug offense. 

In both Federal and state prisons, 

Inmates with prior violent offenses were 

Table 13. Drug use of sentenced Federal and State prison Inmatos, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

Ever used Used drugs In the 

Ever USEld drugs drugs regularly month before offense 

Type qf !!r~.9 , . .:tl.der.!I!.~,._.S.!~~'L __ ~_._ ..•• F~ge[al.. ,SJEi\e. ... .. • fep.!li'.aL State 

Any drug 60.1 % 79.4% 42.1% 62.2% 31.8% 49.9% 

Marijuana 52.6 73.8 32.2 51.9 19.2 32.2 

Cocaine/crack 37.3 40.4 20.6 31.9 15.4 25.2 

Heroin/opiates 14.1 25.2 9.3 15.3 5.5 9.6 

Barbiturates 13.1 24.(\ 5.3 10.8 1.4 3.6 

Stir:1ulants 16.6 ~9.7 6.3 16.6 3.9 7.4 

Hallucinogens 14.6 28.9 4.6 11.5 1.2 3.7 

Note: Data are missing on 1 % of Federal prlsor' Inmates and .5% of State prison Inmates. 

8 Comparing Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 

--------1 

~ 

likely to be In prison for another violent 

offense. About 43% of these Federal 

Inmates and 55% of State violent 

recidivists were In prison for another 

violent offense. Of violent recldlvi$ts, a 

third of Federal Inmatos and a fifth of 

State Inmates were In prison for robbery. 

About 10% of Federal prisoners and 

65% of State Inmates with no previous 

sentences were In priscm for a violent 

offense. 

Drug use 

Although Federal Inmates were much 

more likely than those in State prisons to 

be serving a sentence for drug offenses, 

they were less likely than State Inmates 

to have used drugs (table 13). Asked if 

they had ever used drugs, had ever 

used drugs at least once a week for a 

month (regularly), or had uticri drugs In 

the month before their last arrest, 

Federal Inmates reported less use than 

did State prison Inmates. Federal 

inmates were almost half as likely as 

• 

State Inmates to have been using drugs • 

at the time of the current offense (17% 

and 31%). 

Marijuana was the drug most common 

for both Federal and State Inmates, 

followed by cocaine-based drugs and 

heroin and other opiates. A fifth of all 

Federal Inmates and almost a third of 

State Inmates had used cocaine at least 

ol1ce a week for a month or more. Just 

under 10% of Federal Inmates and 15% 

of State Inmates had used heroin or 

other opiates regularly" 

Used drugs at the 

time of the offense 

fe,deral .. - .§tEi)!3 

16.8% 31.0% 

5.9 11.4 

7.7 14.5 

3.7 5.6 

.3 1.0 

1.8 2.9 

.5 1.6 

-l 

I 

• 
• 

• 

I Table 14. Drug use of sentenced Federal and State prison Inrn'::l9s, 

by selected characteristics, 1991 

E 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

Ever used drugs Used drugs In month 

Number of Inmates re9ularl~ before offense 

Chru:acterlstIL_ Federal State Federal State Federal State 

Sex 

Male 49,460 664,824 42.7% 62.0% 32.2% 49.7% 

Female 4,208 38,196 34.7 65.4 27.6 53.9 

Race/HIspank10rigin 

White non-Hispanic 20,582 249,295 49.4% 63.2% 34.9% 49.50/0. 

Black non-H Ispanlc 15,984 320,305 45.9 60.7 35.7 49.0 

Other non-Hispanic' 2,031 16,618 35.8 57.6 25.1 46.6 

Hlspanlcb 15,071 116,801 28.9 64.6 24.3 53.5 

Age 

24 or under 4,973 154,231 41.0% 61.6% 32.7% 52.4% 

25-34 19,308 321,147 49.3 69.6 38.3 55.6 

35-44 17,657 159,584 47.0 61.9 35.3 47.6 

45-54 8,067 45,982 2B.2 36.7 lB.6 28.3 

55 or older 3,663 22,075 12.2 13.8 B.4 B.8 

CItizenship 

Citizen 43,746 672,251 48.0% 63.0% 35.9% 50.4% 

Noncitizen 9,922 30,769 15.9 43.5 13.8 38.6 

:Includes Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American Inmates. 

Includes Inmates of any race, 

Drug use of men and women 

sy most Indicators, men In Federal prisons were more likely than their female 

counterparts to have used drugs (table 

14). However, about the same percentage of men and women In Federal prisons reported committing their current 

offense under the Influenco of drugs 

(16%) and with the aim to get money 

for drugs (10%). 

In State prisons men were less likely 

than women to have used drugs regularly (62% versus 65%), to be under the 

Influence of drugs while committing an 

offense (31% versus 36%), and to be 

trying to get money for drugs (17% 

versus 24%). 

Drug use of white, black, 

and Hispanic Inmates 

White and black Federal prisoners 

reported similar levels of drug use, and 

to most questions about drug practices, 

Hispanics Indicated less use than either 

white or black Inmates. About 13% of 

Hispanics and 19% of whites and blacks 

committed their current Federal offense 

under the Influenoe of drugs. About 

1 In 10 members of each racial or ethnic 

group committed the crime to get money 

for drugs. 

In State prisons 65% of Hispanics, 63% 

of whites, and 61 % of blacks reported 

regular drug tJS~I. Hispanic and white 

Inmates were more Ilikely than black 

Inmates to have been under the 

Influence of drugs at the time of the 

offense (34% of Hispanics, 33% of 

whites, and 29% of blacks). Selween 

16% and 20% of each group committed 

the crime for drug money. 

Drug use of age groups 

In both the Federal and State prison 

populations, Inmates under age 45 were 

more likely than oldar Inmates to be 

Involved with drugs. Under age 45,47% 

of Federallnmatas and 66% of State 

Inmates had regularly used drugs, compared to 23% of Federal Inmates and 

29% of State Inmates 45 or older, 

Committed offense 

Under the Influence To get money 

of drugs for drugs 

Federal State Federal State .~--~--

16.9% 30.7% 10.0% 36.5% 

16.3 36.2 10.3 23.9 

18.8% 32.5% 9.6% 15.5% 

18.6 28.9 12.5 17.4 

14.0 32.6 5.7 .10.7 

12.7 33.5 8.4 19.9 

14.4% JO.4% 7.8% 15."% 

20.8 35.5 11.7 19.4 

18.2 30.5 1"2.0 17.3 

11.0 15.4 5.8 10.0 

5.B 6.6 3.3 3.1 

19.3% 31.4% 11.6% 17.2% 

6.2 21.1 2.8 12.3 

Committing 

the offense federal, State 

Under the Influence 

Under age 45 19% 33% 

45 or older 9 13 

To get money for drugs 

Under age 45 11% 18% 

45 01' older 5 8 

Drug use of citizens and noncitizens 

Higher percentages of citizens than noncitizens used drugs In both Federal and 

State prisons. About 48% of citizens In 

Federal prisons and 16% of noncitizens 

used drugs regularly, as well as 63% of 

citizens In State prisons and 44% of 

noncitizens. 

in Federal prisons 12% of citizens 

completed their offense to get money 

for drugs compared to 3% of noncitizens; In State prisons 17% of citizens 

said their motive was to get money for 

drugs, compared to 12% of noncitizens. 

ComparIng Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 9 
-------~ 

•• 1 

- Table 15. Drug use of sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, 

by current offense, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

Used drugs Commfited offense 

Ever used In the month Under the In- To get money 

Number of inmates drugs regularly before offense Influence of drugs for dru9s 

C)urrtln~SllLe!1sEl~ .. .. F~d~~I!L __ ~ate _____ J'~deral _....§ltate_ Federal State Federal State_ ... __ Feqeral State 

Violent offenses 9,217 325,645 

Homicide 1,196 67.057 

Sexual assault 370 66,236 

Robbery 5,963 103,491 

Assault 811 56,756 

Other violent 674 12,101 

Property offenses 5,465 173,437 

Burglary 394 86,966 

Larcenyltheft 464 33,916 

Fraud 3,678 19.769 

Other property 909 32,786 

Drug offenses 30,688 146.660 

Possession 7,249 52,761 

(rafflcklng 22,912 92,697 

Other/unspecified 727 3,202 

PUblic-order offenses 6,640 47.746 

Dn.lg use, by current offense 

Not only was drug use among Federal 

inmates less overall than among State 

Inmates, the two Inmate populations also 

differed In how drug LIse varied by current offense. A maJor:1y of Inmates 

sentenced for a violent Federal offense 

reported regular drug use; property 

offenders (31%) and drug offenders 

(41 %) reported relatively lower rates 

(table 15). Among Inmates In State 

prisons, about 71 % of the drug offenders, 68% of the property offenders, and 

57% of the violent offenders used drugs 

at least once a week for a month or 

more. 

About a fourth of robbers and almost 

a third of burglars In both Federal and 

State prison systems reported committing their offense for money for drugs. 

Among Inmates- sentenced for a drug 

offense, about 1 In 10 In Federal prisons 

and 2 in 10 in State prisons said they did 

their crime to get money for drugs. 

54.8% 56.6% 42.6% 45.5% 

46.5 53.0 31.7 43.2 

28.7 43.7 15.5 31,4 

61.9 89.0 50.6 58.6 

44.3 56.0 31.7 42.2 

36.7 54.9 27.0 41.7 

31.1% 67.8% 21.9% 54.5% 

68.1 72.0 82.2 59.4 

52.2 66.1 32.6 53.8 

24.2 57.4 16.0 43.8 

31.9 62.9 22.3 46.5 

41.3% 70.6% 31.7% 59.9% 

33.2 66.9 27.6 60.9 

44.2 71.6 33.4 59.2 

26.7 71.5 21.1 65.7 

38.7% 54.5% 27.0% 35.1% 

Drug treatment programs 

About 55% of Federal Inmates and 62% 

of State Inmates who used drugs In the 

month before their current offense had 

been in a drug treatment program at 

some time In their lives (table 16). 

About 31n 10 Federal and State Inmates 

24.9% 26.3% 16.0% 11.6% 

16.0 27.7 2.7 5.3 

10.3 19.8 0 2.4 

29.3 37.5 26.6 26.7 

19.6 23.1 2.3 5.6 

15.4 23.8 2.6 6.8 

13.4% 35.3% 9.2% 26.5% 

52.8 39.6 32.0 29.7 

23.6 37.0 13.1 30.6 

8.6 27.9 6.5 25.4 

10.6 26.1 7.9 14.2 

16.2'~ 36.6% 9.1% 21.9% 

13.5 37.8 7.0 16.1 

17.3 36.0 9.6 25.2 

11.5 43.4 6.6 20.4 

12.4% 16.0% 5.5% 5.1% 

who used drugs In the month before 

their current offense had previously 

been In drug treatment. Of Federal and 

State Inmates using drugs In the month 

before their offense, about 6% had been 

In three or mNe treatment programs 

before their admission. 

Table 16. Drug treatment of s!lntenced Federal and State prison Inmates, 

by drug use, 1991 

Percent of Inmates 

Usod drugs 

In the month 

Drug treatment All Ever in the ~st before offense 

P!99!.~!1l_. __ .•. ..._ .... ~_ ... ..• _fed~rL. __ ~~~J:'~Elll!L~ate • ...-£~qi!".~~. _~ 

Participated 

Ever 

After admission 

Before admission 

Number of times 

1 

2 

3-5 

6 or more 

Partlolpated In the month 

before the current admission 

Most recent participation 

was while Incarcerated 

Number of Inmates 

27.6% 43.3% 

21.3 32.9 

13.1 20.9 

7.9 12.3 

2.7 4.6 

1.9 3.0 

.5 .6 

4.4% 8.5% 

23.0% 35.7% 

53,046 691,429 

46.0% 54.7% 55.0% 62.3% 

35.4 41.6 42.9 47.6 

21.9 26.4 27.6 30.9 

13.3 15.6 15.9 17.6 

4.6 5.6 6.0 7.2 

3.2 3.8 4.8 4.6 

.8 1.1 .9 1.3 

7.3% 6.3% 6.8% 9.5% 

36.3% 45.1% 46.1% 51.3% 

31.595 548,185 18,953 344,622 

10 Comparing Federa! and State PrIson Inmates, 1991 

• 

• 

• 
• 

• 

• 

Table 17. Drug treatment of sentenced Federal and 

State prison Inmates since Incarceration, by drug use, 

1991 

Table 18. Status of enrollment in drug treatment programs 

for sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

Percent of sentenced Inmates Used drugs In month 

Used drugs In the Current status of All before offense 

Drug treatment All month before offense drug treatment Federal State Federal State 

!1rogram Federal State Federal State Total 21.3% 32.9% 42.9%' 47.6% 

Inpatient 4.6% 7.3% 11.7% 11.4% 

Group counseling 11.9 18.3 24.6 26.8 

Individual counseling 1.7 3.1 3.8 5.0 

Peer/self-help group 4.5 8.2 10.2 12.6 

Completed since admission 11.0% 14.6% 23.8% 21.8% 

Currently enrolled 7.2 13.5 15.3 19.9 

Did not complete 2.8 4.2 6.2 6.8 

Education/awareness 3.6 4.7 7.8 7. 1 Transferred to another program .3 .7 .6 1.1 

Number of Inmates 53.046 691,416 16,953 344,822 Dropped out .6 1.1 1.9 1.9 

Kicked out .1 .4 .2 .7 

Note: These programs are mutually exoluslve. The Inpatient, group 

counseling, and Individual counseling programs are conducted by trained 

professionals. Inmates could partlolpate In more than one program. 

No longer required to participate .4 .4 .6 .6 

Other 1.3 1.6 2.9 2.6 

Number of Inmates 53,046 61)1,416 16,953 344,822 

Note: Detail does not add to totals because Inmates 

could be In more than one category. 

An estimated 46% of Federal Inmates a program while In a correctional facility; Type of drug treatment program 

and 51% of State Inmates who had used 43% of Federal Inmates and 48% of 

drugs In the month before their current State Inmates had been in a program Of Inmates who used drugs In the month 

offense had most recently participated In since their admission to prison. prior to their current offense, about 1 In 

4 Federal and State Inmates had been 

Table 19. Drug treatment since admission of sentenced Federal and State In group counseling and 1 In 10 had 

prison Inmates who used drugs In the month before their current offense, been In an Inpatient program since their 

by Inmate characteristics, 1991 admission to prison (table 17). About 1 

Inmates who used drugs In the month 

In 20 had seen a psychiatrist, hSYCholobefore their current offense gist, or social worker Indlvldua Iy. 

Number Percent treated' 

£l)aractf:!tistlc Federal State Federal State status of drug treatment 

Crlmlnal/usllee characterIstics The drug treatment profiles of Federal 

Expected relc,ase and State Inmates who had used drugs 1 year or less 4,211 135,129 40.2% 41.3% during the month before their last arrest More than 1 year 11,216 162,347 33.0 33.8 

were very similar. More than 20% In 

Offense each population had completed a drug Violent 3,867 145.057 36.4% 32.3% 

Property 1,193 92,,875 34.4 36.9 treatment program since admiSsion to 

Drug 9,737 88,170 34.0 44.4 prison (table 18). About 15% of these 

Public-order 1.7&1 16,388 33.5 35.1 drug users In Federal prisons and 20% 

DemographIc characteristics In State prisons were In a treatment program at the time of the survey. About 

Sex 6% In both Federal and State prisons Male 15,800 324,394 33.4% 36.5% had failed to complete a program. Female 1.153 20,427 49.1 43.3 

RacelHlspanlc origin Characteristics of drug White 7.168 120,542 34.8% 36.7% treatment participants Black 5,636 155,133 36.3 37.3 

Hispanic 3.639 61.097 31.8 35.2 

Age Inmates who had used drugs In the 

24 or younger 1,579 79,430 19.3% 32.6% month before their offense could be con25-29 3.505 92,412 35.0 38.4 sldered to have an active drug problem. 30-34 3,862 83,195 36.1 38.5 Describing who among these Inmates 35-44 6.209 74,931 38.7 38.7 had received or were In treatment 45-54 1,499 12,953 26.5 30.3 

55 or older 299 1,902 39.6 42.4 during their current Incarceration helps 

Citizenship to account for treatment coverage. 

Clllzon 15,581 333,311 35.3% 37.4% Nonc~lzen 1,372 11,511 25.6 22.6 Expected release: In both Federal 

'Drug treatment Includes treatment completed or under way during tho ourrent Inoarceratlon. 

and State prisons, a closer release date 

Increased the chances of drug treatment 

(table 19). Compared to persons due to 

Comparing Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 11 
• p 

be released after another year, Inmates Alcohol and drug use 

who were to be released In a year or at the time of the offense 

less were more likely to have completed 

or be In drug treatment. Federal Inmates were half as likely as 

State Inmates to be under the Influence 

Offense: Among State, but not Federal, of drugs or alcohol when they committed 

Inmates, drug offenders (44%) were their current offense (table 20). A fourth 

more likely than persons sentenced for of Federal Inmates and half of State 

other types of offenses (34%) to have inmates reported they were under the 

received drug treatment. Influence of alcohol or drugs when they 

committed their current offense. About 

Sex of Inmates: In Federal prisons 49% 11 % of Federal prisoners and 32% of 

of the women, and In State prisons 43%, State prisoners were under the Influence 

had participated In drug treatment during of alcohol, and 17% of Federal Inmates 

their current sentence. For men the and 31% of State Inmates were under 

percentages were 33% (Federal) and the Influence of drugs. 

36% (State). 

Consumption of alcohol Is associated 

Citizenship: In Federal prisons 35% of particularly with violent offenses. About 

the citizens, and In State prisons 37%, 20% of violent offenders In Federal prlshad received drug treatment. For non- ons and 38% In State prisons committed 

citizens the treatment rates were 26% their crime under the Influence of alco-

(Federal) and 23% (State). hoi. About a quarter of both Federal 

and State Inmates were under the InflllRace and Hlspanlo orIgin: White, black, ence of drugs. 

and Hispanic inmates who used drugs 

In the month before their current Federal For those In prison for homicide or 

or State offense were about equally assault, about 4 In 10 Federal and State 

likely to have received drug treatment. Inmates were using alcohol. Nearly 2 In 

Table 20. Sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates who committed 

their current offense under the Influence of alcohol or drugs, 

by their current offense, 1991 

Percent of Inmates under the Influence of alcohol or drugs during current offense 

Federall:1rlson Inmates State I:1rlson Inmates 

Alcohol Drugs Alcohol Drugs 

CIJJI!!!Jl~r1~_~_Total only ~_~ __ ..1lQ!!:L_,._,~!!1 only .2!l!L __ ~~~ 

Total 23.5% 6.6% 12.5% 4.4% 49.1% 18.4% 16.8% 13.9% 

VIolent offenses 37.7% 13.2% 17.3% 7.2% 49.1% 21.3% 11.6% 16.2% 

Homicide 43.4 25.1 6.2 12.1 51.7 24.5 10.3 16.9 

Sexual assault 34.3 24.0 7.8 2.5 41.1 21.6 5.2 14.3 

Robbery 36.3 7.6 22.4 6.3 51.6 14.7 19.0 18.0 

Assault 48.0 28.5 9.9 9.6 49.6 26.9 8.0 14.7 

Other violent 31.2 16.0 8.3 6.9 50.3 28.7 9.3 14.3 

Property offenses 18.3% 4.7% 10.1% 3.4% 52.7% 17.8% 2o.B% 14.0% 

Burglary 57.5 4.9 42.2 10.4 57.7 18.5 23.0 16.2 

Larceny/theft 31.6 8.1 16.3 7.3 52.4 15.6 23.1 13.6 

Fraud 12.1 3.2 6.8 2.1 39.2 11.6 20.3 7.3 

Other property 19.3 8.8 6.6 3.8 47.7 22.0 12.9 12.7 

Drug offenses 20.9% 4.6% 12.6% 3.6% 43.9% 7.6% 26.0% 10.4% 

Possession 18.5 5.1 10.1 3.2 45.1 7.8 26.8 10.5 

Trafficking 21.8 4.5 13.5 3.8 43.1 7.4 2~.6 10.1 

Other/unspecified 14.0 2.6 9.4 2.1 48.8 6.5 211.5 15.8 

Public-order offenses 21.0% 8.4% 7.9% 4.7% 51.9% 34.1% 89% 8.9% 

Othor offenses 16.5% 7.5% 8.4% 2.5% 44.8% 19.6% 9.3% 15.9% 

12 Comparing Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 

Me 

10 Federal Inmates and 3 In 10 State • 

Inmates serving time for homicide were 

under the Influence of drugs at the time 

of their crime. 

Federal inmates serving time 

for a drug offense - other than 

possession only - described their 

organizations and activities 

• Among Federal offenders who had 

trafficked In, grown, or manufactured 

Illegal drugs or who had managed 

drug money, a fourth said they were 

a member of a group or organization 

that engaged In Illegal drug activities. 

• About 11% were leaders or middle 

men In a drug organization. About 

9% belonged to organizations with 

11 or more members. 

• About 5% Imported or helped to 

Import Illegal drugs, and about 3% 

Illegally manufactured drugs. 

Percent 

of Inmates 

sentenoed • for drug law 

violation 

Member 01 group or organization 

engaged In Illegal drug activities 24.6% 

Role In drug group or organization 

Leader or organizer 4.4 

Middleman 6.1 

Lower-level person (like a carrier) 11.0 

Other 3.0 

Size of group or organization 

1-5 8.0% 

6-10 4.8 

11-25 5.3 

26 or more 4.1 

Activities of drug law offonders' 

Importing or helping others to Import 

Illegal drugs Into the U nlled States 4.7% 

Illegally manufaoturlng or helping 

others to manufacture drugs 3.4 

Distributing or helping to distribute 

drugs for others to sell 16.1 

Selling or helping to sell drugs 

to others for their use 20.8 

Nothing other than traffloklng 70.0 

Number of Inmates 21,225 

Note: These questions were askod only of 

Fedorallnmates In prison for drug offenses 

other than possession, and 17.8% of them 

did not respond. • 'Inmates may have engaged In more than 

one activity. 
• 

• 

• 

Amount of drugs Involved In the current offense, 

by racelHlspanic origin of sentenced Federal Inmates, 1991 

Race/Hispanic origin Heroin Crack Cocaine Marijuana 

of Inmates and type Number Grams Number Grams Number Grams Number Grams 

()!£urrenL9!",ug<..:o:.:.off:::.en:.::.se=--~ __ 0::;;f,-"ln.::.;m~ac;;:;te,,-s -"M:.:.:::e""di~an,--,-M""e;.:;:an:.:........_o~f"",lnc.:.;m=ates Median Mean of Inmates Median ,.:.;M:.:.e.:::.E'.n,--..c:o:;...:fI;,;:.nm~a:;.:te:;:$-,M;;.:e:.::d:=;lan"---,M"",,e::.;;an,,,--_ 

AU Inmates' 

Totalb 3,127 240 2,510 2,980 

2,358 

535 

40 

40 

50 

940 

970 

680 

16,528 1,560 77,690 

12,515 1,500 82,990 

3,702 2,000 63,910 

6,015 100,000 3,028,330 

4,420 136,080 3,353,580 

1 ,506 45,360 2,100,560 

Trafficking 

Possession 

2,436 300 2,770 

665 170 1,420 

White non-Hispanic Inmates 

Totalb 407 600 6,900 106 

106 

20 

20 

470 

470 

4,525 1,000 97,640 

3,832 1,000 97,650 

588 1,970 112,060 

2,825 100,000 4,008,790 

Traflicklng 334 590 8,090 2,321 200,000 4,687,060 

Possession 70 2,000 1,480 454 30,840 581,990 

Black non-Hispanic Inmales 

Totalb 1,156 

947 

189 

230 1,960 2,513 

1,986 

463 

30 

30 

50 

690 

650 

700 

4.439 500 13,860 442 

263 

178 

910 491,390 

Traffloklng 400 2,050 3,356 500 17,760 660 761,040 

Possession 60 970 992 500 1 ,720 910 93,480 

Hispanic Inmates 

Totalb 1,314 

957 

357 

170 1,090 348 

257 

250 2,980 7,297 3,000 106,960 

5,111 4,000 118,340 

2,071 3,000 81,490 

2,675 129,730 2,452,230 

Trafficking 1,773 145,150 2,161,140 

Possession 

170 880 280 3,880 

150 1,660 864 79,000 3,131,860 

• • • The sampled number of Inmates was 100 small 

to esllmate the number, the median, and the mean. 

Federal Inmates In prison for drugs had 

committed crimes that usually involved 

large amounts of Illegal drugs and large 

amounts of money. The amount of 

drugs involved in a case can serve as 

one measure of the seriousness of the 

crimes. For example, at least half of 

the cocaine traffickers in Federal prisons In 1991 had been convicted in a 

case which had voncerned 3 or more 

pounds of cocaine (500 grams = 17.5 

ounces or a little more than a pound). 

The average trafficking case invoived 

over 180 pounds. 

According to Drug Enforcement AdminIstration estimates for 1991, the ultimate 

value of 180 pounds of cocaine ranged 

from $2.9 million to $14.5 million. 

(Other estimates: 1 gram of heroin, 

$40-$450, and 1 pound of marijuana, 

$400-$3,000.) 

"Includes Inmates of all races and ethnic backgrounds • blnoludes Inmates convicted of drug offenses other than 

trafficking and possession. 

In estimating the weight of drugs 

Involved In the current offense, the 

offender may have been charged with 

all the drugs In the entire operation. 

An offender who served a sentence 

for laundering money from Illegal drug 

sales, for example, could have been 

charged with the total amount sold. 

Three Interviewed prisoners convicted 

In the same case could also have cited 

the total amount of drugs. 

• Among offenders convicted of heroin 

offenses, half were Involved with at 

least 240 grams of heroin. The average 

case concerned 2,510 grams. In Federal crack cases, half of the offenders 

were involved with at least 40 grams 

of crack (an average of 940 grams). 

Half of the cocaine offenders were 

sentenced for at least 1,580 grams 

of the drug (an average of 77,690 

grams). 

• White offenders were sentenced for 

larger amounts of heroin on average 

than black or Hispanic Inmates. Half 

of the whites in heroin cases were 

Involved with at least 600 grams of 

heroin, while half of the blacks were 

convicted for 230 grams and half of 

the Hispanics for 170 grams. 

• In offenses invoiving crack, half of 

the Hispanic Inmates were convicted 

in cases Involving at least 250 grams; 

half of the black Inmates were in cases 

having at least 30 grams; and half of the 

white inmates, at least 20 grams. 

• In cocaine cases, Hispanic and white 

drug offenders were Involved with larger 

amounts of cocaine than black Inmates. 

Half of the Hispanics In cocaine cases 

had at least 3,000 grams of cocaine, 

half of the whites at least 1,000 grams, 

and half of the blacks at least 500 

grams. 

ComparIng Federal and State Prison Inmatesl 1991 13 
I 

I 

-I 

Table 21. Ownership and use of guns by sentenced 

Federal and State prison Inmates, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

Ever arm:;\! while Armed during Fired gun during 

committing a crime current offense ourrent offense 

T:tee of firearm F~deral State Federal State Federal---stiiie 

All Inmates 

Any firearm 16.3% 22.9% 11.8% 16.4% 2.0% 7.8% 

Handgun 13.4 19.2 9.5 13.3 1.5 6.1 

Rifle or shotgun 2.9 4.8 1.9 2.7 .4 1.6 

Automatic/military type 1.3 1.6 .7 .5 .1 .2 

Violent Inmates 

Any firearm 46.3% 35.1% 38.0% 29.2% 10.0% 15.9% 

Handgun 38.4 29.1 31.0 23.6 7.8 12.4 

Rifle or shotgun 8.8 7.6 5.6 5.0 1.8 3.2 

Automatic/military type 2.8 2.0 1.6 .7 .4 . 3 

Other Inmates 

Any firearm 10.1% 12.5% 6.5% 5.3% .4% .8% 

Handgun 8.2 10.6 5.1 4.5 .3 .6 

Rifle or shotgun 1.7 2.5 1.1 .7 .1 .1 

Automatic/military type .9 1.2 .5 .3 .1 .1 

Note: Data were missing for 1.2% of Federal prison Inmates and 1.6% of State prison Inmates. 

Firearms 

-

Type of firearm 

Violent offenders using a firearm most 

often had a handgun. About 31% of 

Federal and 24% of State violent offenders carried a handgun during their current offense, while about 5% carried a 

rifle or shotgun and about 1 % a mllitarytype weapon. 

Firearm use, by offense 

Forty-five percent of Inmates In Federal 

prison for homicide, and 42% of State 

inmates, carried a firearm at the time 

of the crime. Smaller percentages of 

the inmates said they fired the weapon • 

Among the nearly 6,000 Federal Inmates 

serving time for robbery, 41% committed 

the crime with a gun, and 4% fired It. 

Among the 102,000 robbers In State 

prison, 35% had a gun, and 6% fired 

It. Among armed robbers 10% of the 

Federal inmates and about 16% of 

the State Inmates fired their weapon. 

Of those convlctl3d of assaUlt, 25% 

of Federal prisoners and 31 % of St&te 

• 

Overall, Federal prison Inmates carried a 

firearm less often than State Inmates 

About 46% of Federal and 35% of State 

offenders In prison for a violent crime 

had carried firearms when committing 

some crime. In contrast, about 1 In 10 

Federal and State Inmates convicted 

prisoners carried a firearm, and 15% • 

of Federal offenders and 25% of State 

offenders fired it. 

at the ·tlme of any past offense and 

during the crime for which they were 

currently serving a sentence. Sixteen 

percent of Federal Inmates and 23% 

of State Inmates Indicated ever having 

a firearm during the commission of a 

crime (table 21). While committing the 

offense for which they were serving 

time, 12% of Federal Inmates and 16% 

of State Inmates were armed with a gun, 

and 2% of Federal offenders and 8% of 

State prisoners fired It. 

Firearm use by violent 

and nonvIolent offenders 

Although a smaller percentage and 

number of Federal Inmates than State 

Inmates were serving a sentence for a 

violent offense, a higher percentege of 

the Federal Inmates who were violent 

offenders were armed during their 

offense - 38% of Federal and 29% 

of State violent offenders (table 22). 

About 10% of Federal and 16% of State 

violent offenders fired a weapon during 

their current offense. 

of crimes other than violent offenses 

had ever been armed while committing 

a crime, and about 1 In 20 were armed 

when committing their current offense. 

Less than 5% of Federal and State 

offenders convicted of property and drug 

crimes co:nmltted their current offense 

with a firearm, and less than 1% fired 

their gun. 

Table 22. Gun presence and firing during current offense of sentenced 

Federal and State prison Inmates, by current offense, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

Armed during Fired gUll during 

Number of Inmates oUrrent offense ourrent offense 

____ Current .~ offense ____ ._..-_. _____ Federal ._._ ... ~ ............... ~. __ State , ___ ~, __ .---.~.,...,..._+~----. Federal __ ,_, State ... , __ ~ ....... "_ .. ,._ ~-~._+,_ Federal .• ~_ .• ____ Stato .... T __ '~ 

Total 52,973 687,949 11.7% 16.3% 2.1% 7.9% 

Violent offenses 9,072 320,587 37.7% 29.0% 10.1% 16.0% 

Homicide 1,157 84,467 45.4 41.6 39.4 36.1 

Sexual assault 370 65,659 8.2 3.2 0 .3 

Robbery 5,872 102,232 41.3 34.5 4.4 5.5 

Assault 609 56,255 25.4 31.3 14.5 25.2 

Other violent 864 11,952 26.5 21.4 9.2 6.6 

Property offenses 5,417 170,810 2.0% 3.2% .2% .7% 

Burglary 385 85.655 16.2 3.8 2.6 .9 

Other properly 5,032 84,956 .9 2.6 0 .5 

Drug offenses 30,760 147,692 3.7% 4.1% , 1~~ .3% 

Possession 7,233 52,340 4.2 4.5 0 .2 

Trafficking 22,798 92,226 3.7 4.0 .1 .3 

Other drug 729 3,125 0 2.1 0 0 

Public-order offenses 6,556 46,437 22.2% 16.3% 2.2% 2.7% 

Weepons 3,011 12,245 42.7 48.5 3.4 7.1 

Other pUblic-order 3,547 34,193 4.7 4.8 12 1.1 

14 Comparing Fedetal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 

• 
• 

• 

• 

Table 23. Sentenced Federal anr.l State 

prison Inmates who had ever stolen 

guns or who had used or traded 

stolen guns, 1991 

Percent of Inmates 

--,~~-~ _ . .,. --~ 

r:!l~!lraL ___ §.t!l!!l __ . 

AUlnmatos whoHad ever stolon !l gun 4.6% 10.4% 

Kept a stolen gun for 

their own uso 2.5 6.1 

Sold or traded a stolen gun 4.4 10.9 

Violent Inmatos whoHad ever stolen a gun 14.3% 11.7% 

Kepi a stolen gun lor 

their own use 9.5 7.5 

Suld or traded a stolen gun 11.9 11.3 

Other Inmates whoHad "wer stolen a gun 2.5% 9.3% 

Kept a stolen gun lor 

tllelr own use 1.0 5.0 

Sold or traded a stolen gun 2.9 10.7 

Note: Data were missing lor 0.8% of Federal 

prison Inmates and 0.5% 01 State prison 

Inmates. 

Stealing and seiling firearms 

About 5% of Federal Inmates and 10% 

of State Inmates had stolen a gun, and 

4% of Federal Inmates and 11 % of State 

Inmates had sold or traded a stolen gun 

(table 23). Among violent Inmates about 

the same percentage of Federal and 

State offenders had stolen firearms 

(14% and 12%) and sold or traded 

stolen guns (12% and 11%). 

Family background 

A higher percentage of Federal (58%) 

than State Inmates (43%) lived with both 

their parents most of the time while 

growing up (table 24). About 28% of 

Federal prisoners, compared to 39% of 

State prisoners, lived with their mothers 

most of the time. About 4% of each 

group lived primarily with their fathers. 

Black Federal or State Inmates were 

less likely than Hispanics, who were less 

likely than whites, to have lived with both 

parents. In Federal prisons 41% of 

black Inmates lived with both parents 

while growing up, compared to 62% 

of Hispanic Inmates, and 69% of white 

prisoners. In State prisons 32% of black 

Inmates had lived with both parents, 

Table 24. Persons wIth whom sentenced Federal and State Inmates lived 

most of tha time while growing up, by race/Hispanic origin. 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

Both parents 58.3% 43.1% 69.0% 56.1% 40.9% 31.9% 62.4% 46.2% 

Mother only 2B.5 39.1 20.8 27.6 42.6 49.7 24.7 36.0 

Father only 3.4 3.9 3.7 4.9 3.1 3.1 3.2 4.0 

Grandparent 5.7 7.7 2.8 5.2 8.6 10.0 5.5 6.6 

Other' 4.2 0.2 3.7 6.2 4.6 5.4 4.2 6.9 

Number 

01 Inmates 53,549 700,916 20,576 248,514 15,925 319,234 15,028 116,579 

'Includes other relatives, Irlends, foater homes, 

and agencies. 

Table 25. Sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates who lived In a foster 

home or Institution while growing up, by race/Hispanic origIn, 1991 

Sentenced prison Inmates 

Percent who had 

lived In a foster home 

Inmate racel Number or ohlldcare Institution 

!i~IlI!!.E!iIll!L . __ .•. Y_!l9EltI!L ... ...§!.!It!L _____ Fed~L __ ~!!I..e __ . ~_~ __ . __ ._~~ __ 

Total 53,538 700,620 

White 20,573 248,516 

Black 15,949 319,374 

Other 2,031 16,533 

Hispanic 14,988 116,398 

compared to 46% of Hispanics and 5t\% 

of whites. Among black Inmates 4 In 1 Q 

Federal offenders and 5 In 10 State 

offenders lived only with their mothers 

most of the time while growing up. 

Federal Inmates were half as likely as 

State Inmates to have spent some time 

In a chlldcare Institution or foster home 

while growing up (8% versus 17%) 

(table 25). In Federal prisons just under 

1 In 10 white and black prisoners had 

been under public care as a child. A 

fourth of white State Inmates and an 

eighth of black Inmates had been In 

foster care. About 15% of Asians and 

7.8% 17.3% 

9.8 23.1 

6.2 13.1 

14.5 34.1 

3.6 14.2 

Native Americans In Federal prisons and 

34% In State prisons had been cared for 

In a public Institution while growing up. 

Parental drug and alcohol abuse 

A lower percentage of Federal than 

State Inmates reported that their parents 

or guardians abused alcohol or drugs 

while they were growing up (16% versus 

27%) (table 26). Alcohol was abused 

by a parent of 16% of Federal prisoners 

and 26% of State prisoners. About 1 % 

of Federal prisoners and 5% of State 

prisoners said their parents or guardians 

abused drugs. 

Table 26. Sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates with at least one parent 

or guardian who abused alcohol or drugs, by race/Hispanic origin. 1991 

Percent 01 sentenced Inmates 

Parental abuse """"'Arnll---TIW"'hlt:lte:-::non:Hfsiiiinlo Black ~n·Hlsp'anlc Hlspanlo 

~.L!I!~_oh.oL.or1!r_~9.!l~o_,oh E~C!.!l@L§.!!l.tE!_Federal "_~al~._ Fede.!I!I __ .~~SJ!l!!!,_EE!~r!!L._§ltate~ __ 

Total 16.2% 26.7% 20.7% 36.6% 16.2% 19.9% 9.0% 22,0% 

Alcohol 

Drugs 

Both 

14.6 

.3 

1.1 

22.2 

.6 

3.7 

18.6 

.2 

1.7 

30.5 14.8 

.7 .4 

5.3 .9 

16.7 

.7 

2.4 

8.2 

.3 

.3 

17.5 

1.3 

3.2 

Numbor ofinrnates 53,551 698,029 20,585 247,764 15,946 318,013 14,998 115,857 

Comparing Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 15 
r---- 

--------------------------------

, 

I 

Table 27. Sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates with an Immediate 

family member who was ever Incarcorated, by race and Hispanic origin, 1991 

Parcent of Inmates re(1ortlng an Immediate famll~ member serving time 

All' White Black Hls(1anlc 

Eamll~ member ___ . ____ £ederal _~._ Federal _ -Etat~ __ . __ . Federal ~~~~E.9I'IlL _ ....... Stll!E1. __ ... _ 

At least one family member 26.4% 37.5% 23.6% 33.2% 35.5% 41.7% 20.8% 34.6% 

Father 3.8 6.4 4.3 8.5 4.0 5.0 2.5 5.3 

Mother .9 1.6 .8 1.9 .9 1.5 .7 1.1 

Brother 22.0 31.2 18.7 25.9 31.0 36.0 17.2 29.0 

Sister 2.3 4.5 1.4 3.6 3.7 5.1 2.2 4.3 

Other 1.1 .5 1.4 .7 .8 .3 1.2 .7 

Number of Inmates 53.373 698.322 20.503 247.858 15.856 318.011 15,003 115,993 

'Includes Inmates of other races, not shown separately. 

Higher percentages of white Federal 

Inmates (21%) said a parent or guardian 

abused alcohol or drugs than did black 

Inmates (16%), and black Federal 

Inmates reported higher use than Hispanic Inmates (9%). In State prisons 

white Inmates (37%) reported more 

parental substance abuse than black 

prisoners (20%) or Hispanic prisoners 

(22%). 

Family members Incarcerated 

Lower percentages of Federal than 

State prisoners hac! Immediate family 

members who had been Incarcerated 

(26% versus 38%) (table 27). Among 

Federal prisoners 22% reported a 

brother had served a sentence In a Jail 

or prison, and among State prisoners 

31% said a brother had served time. 

In both Federal and State prisons higher 

percentages of black Inmates than white 

or Hispanic Inmates reported family 

members ever Incarcerated. Among 

Federal Inmates 36% of black prisoners 

reported that family members had been 

Incarcerated, compared to 24% of 

whites and 21 % of Hispanics. In State 

prisons 42% of black Inmates said family 

members had served time, compared to 

33% of white Inmates and 35% of 

Hispanic Inmates. 

Physical or sexual abuse 

An estimated 6% of Federal prisoners 

and 14% of State prisoners said they 

had been physically or sexually abused 

at some time In their lives before 

entering prison (table 28). 

The percentage of female Inmates 

reporting abuse before prison exceeded 

by 3 to 4 times that of male Inmates 

reporting abuse. About 22% of women 

In Federal prisons and 43% In State 

prisons reported being physically or 

sexually abused In the past, compared 

to 5% of men In Federal prisons and 

12% In State prisons. 

Women In Federal prisons were about 

half as likely as those In State prisons to 

have experienced either physical or 

sexual abuse. Although men overall 

had experienced much less abuse than 

women, the male Federal Inmates were 

about half as likely as those In State 

prisons to report past abuse. 

Violent offenders were more likely 

than nonviolent offenders to have been 

abused before entering prison. About 

44% of women In Federal prison for a 

violent offense said they had been physIcally or sexually abused, compared 

to 20% convicted of a property, drug, 

or public-order offense. Among female 

State Inmates, about 56% of those 

serving a sentence for a violent offense 

had been physically battered or sexually 

abused, compared to 37% of women 

convicted of another type of offense. 

Table 28. Physical or sexual abuse sustained before entering 

federal or State prison on current sentence, by sex, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

All Male Female 

6i?~~ .. " __ . ].f~~[I'lL_ .. §tl!l.E!. .. ___ _ _fed~!3L._§!.!!t!L • .F~dll!!lr:St!lt.I!. 

All Inmates 62% 13.8% 4.8% 12.1% 22.2% 43.1% 

Physical 3.7 8.9 3.5 8.8 8.2 9.1 

Sexual 1.0 2.4 .6 2.0 6.3 9.4 

Both 1.4 4.3 .7 3.2 9.4 24.4 

Violent Inmates 9.4% 17.3% 8.1% 15.8% 43.8% 55.7% 

Physical 5.5 8.2 5.4 8.1 7.3 11.0 

Sexual 1.2 3.2 .8 2.9 10.8 10.8 

Both 2.6 5.8 1.7 4.7 25.2 33.8 

Other Inmates 5.5% 10.7% 4.1% 8.8% 20.3% 37.3% 

Physical 3.3 5.8 3.1 5.6 6.1 8.1 

Sexual 1.0 1.8 .5 1.3 5.9 6.7 

Both 1.1 3.1 .5 1.8 8.1 20.2 

Number 

of Inmates 52,219 692,201 4B,l36 654,715 4,083 37,466 

16 ComparIng Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 

• 

• 

• 

I 
• ... - Table 29. Children of sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, 1991 Of those who had minor children, about 

31n 10 men and women In both Federal 

Percent of inmates and State prisons had 3 or more children 

All Male Female under the age of 18, Characteristic of Inmates Federal State Federal State Federal State 

Have children Federal prisoners were more likely than 

No 23.8% 35.3% 24.1% 36.1% 19.6% 21.9% State prisoners to have lived with their 

Yes 76.2 64.7 75.9 63.9 80.2 78.1 children before their admission to prison. Any under age 16 61.6 56.7 61.6 56.1 61.4 66,6 Fully 71 % of Federal prisoners and 54% Adult only 14.5 7.9 14.2 7.6 16.6 11.5 of State prisoners lived with their 

Number of ohlldren children before entering prison. About 

under age 18 70,261 618,022 65,014 762,690 5,252 55,332 87% of women In Federal prisons and 

Number of Inmates 53,755 701,098 49,548 662.931 4,207 36,167 72% In State prisons lived with their 

children, compared to 70% of male 

Number of children under age 18" prisoners In Federal facilities and 53% In 

1 37.7% 42.9% 37.3% 43.3% 42.0% 37.4% State prisons. 2 32.7 28.9 33.0 28.9 30.0 29.6 

3 16.1 15.4 16.1 15.2 16.0 18.2 Nine In ten men In either Federal or 4 7.7 6.9 7.7 6.7 7.6 8.5 

5 or more 5.8 5.9 5.9 5.9 4.4 6.0 State prisons reported that their minor 

Lived with chlld(ron) under 18 

children were living with the children's 

before entering prison" mothers. A quarter of women In prison 

No 28.9% 45.9% 30.3% 47.1% 12.6% 28.0% reported that their children were living 

Yes 71.1 54.1 69.7 52.9 67.4 72.0 with their fathers. About half of women 

Where chlld(~en) under 18 

In prison said that grandparents cared 

for their children. Another 5% of women live(s) now"' 

Other In Federal prisons an~ 10% In State parent 86.4% 85.5% 91.5% 89.6% 25.8% 25.5% 

• Grandparent 14.0 12.5 11.1 9.9 48.0 50.7 prisons said their children were In the 

Other relatlvelfrlend 6.1 4.6 3.9 3.3 32.4 24.0 custody of an agency or foster home. Agency/foster home .9 2.6 .6 2.1 4.5 10.3 

" Percentages ara based on tha 32,913 Federal b Percentages add to more than 100% because 

Inmates and 396,069 Slate Inmates with children Inmates with more than one ohlld may nave 

under age 18. provided mUltiple responses. 

Prisoners with children Federal Inmates were parents of 70,300 

children under the age of 18, and State 

An estimated 76% of Federal Inmates Inmates, of 818,000. In Federal prisons 

and 65% of State Inmates reported they about 62% of both male and female 

had children (table 29). In both Federal prisoners had minor children, while In 

and Stato prisons, about 8 In 10 women State prisons 56% of male Inmates and 

had children • 67% of female Inmates had children. 

• 

ComparIng Federal and SNtftJ PrUon Inmate,. 19'11 17 
Women In Federal and State prisons, 1991 

Percent of Percent of 

female offenders 

9has..~c.!e.rIl!Uo~~ ___ _ Federal State 

Race/Hlspanlo origin 

White non-Hispanic 

Black non-Hispanic 

Other 

Hispanic 

Age 

24 or younger 

25-34 

35-44 

45-54 

55 or older 

Marital statu8 

Married 

Widowed 

Divorced 

Separated 

Never married 

Education 

6th grade or less 

Some high sohool 

High sohool diploma 

Some college 

College degree or more 

Pre-arrest employment 

Employed 

Full time 

Part time 

Not employed 

Looking for work 

Not looking 

female offenders 

Federal State 

29.0% 

38.6 

2.9 

29.5 

11.3% 

40.2 

31.3 

12.2 

5.0 

26.6% 

5.7 

22.5 

10.6 

32.3 

12.0% 

15.3 

47.0 

17.7 

6.1 

63.3% 

53.1 

10.2 

36.7 

10.9 

25.6 

36.1% 

46.1 

3.7 

14.1 

16.3% 

50.3 

25.6 

6.1 

1.6 

17.4% 

6.0 

19.1 

12.5 

45.0 

12.0% 

29.6 

43.0 

12.8 

2.7 

46.5% 

35,6 

10.9 

53.5 

19.2 

34.2 

• 71 % of women In Federal prisons and 

64% In State prisons were racial or 

ethnic minority group members. 

About 30% In Federal prisons and 14% 

In State prisons were Hispanic. 

• About 48% of Women In Federal prisons and 34% In State prisons were 35 

or older. 

• An estimated 29% of women In 

Federal prisons compared to 17% In 

State prisons were married, 

• Almost 26% of women In Federal 

prisons and 16% In State facilities had 

some education at the college level. 

• About 20% In Federal prisons and 2% 

In State Institutions were noncitizens. 

• Just over 63% of women In Federal 

facilities, compared to 47% In State 

Institutions, were employed before 

their offense. A quarter of women 

In Federal prisons and a third In State 

prisons were unemployed and not 

looking for work, 

Charaoterlstlo 

U.S. citizenship 

At least one family 

monlber Incarcerated 

Father 

Mother 

Brother 

Sister 

Other 

Parents/guardians abused 

alcohol or drugs 

Alcohol 

Drugs 

Both 

Lived with most of the time 

while growing up 

Both parents 

Mother only 

Father only 

Grandparent 

Other 

Beon In IndIvidual/group 

counseling since admission 

In IndividUal/group counseling 

at the time at the Burvey 

Gynecological examination 

alter admission 

Pregnant at admission 

Number of female Inmates 

60.1% 

33.6% 

4.2 

2.3 

24.5 

6.4 

3.9 

19.5% 

16.1 

.7 

2.6 

52.6% 

30.6 

2.4 

9.0 

5.3 

20.2% 

9.9% 

92.5% 

4.9 

4,222 

97.5% 

46.7% 

7.9 

4.0 

35.2 

9.9 

3.2 

33.6% 

26.3 

1.6 

5.7 

42.0% 

36.7 

3.4 

9.4 

6.6 

23.4% 

13.5% 

91.0% 

6.1 

36,277 

• A smaller percentage of women 

in Federal prisons (34%) than In State 

facilities (47%) had at least one family 

member who had been Incarcerated. 

About 24% of women In Federal prisons and 35% In State facilities had 

brothers who had served time. 

• Fewer female Federal prisoners than 

State prisoners had parents or guardIans who abused drugs or alcohol 

(20% versus 34%). 

• About 5 In 10 women in Federai 

Institutions and 4 In 10 In State prisons 

lived with both parents most of the time 

while growing up. 

• About 21n 10 women In both Federal 

and State prisons had been In Indhrldual or group counseling since \helr 

admission to prison. About 1 In 10 

were involved In counseling at the 

time of the survey. 

• Almost all women In Federal and 

State prisons had had a gynecological 

examination since their admission. 

18 Comparing Federa/and State Prison Inmates, 1991 

we 

Highlighting women In State 

and Federal prisons: 

An Index to tables 

Information about female Inmates Is 

presented throughout this report. 

-

Criminal history Won len In Federal 

facilities were twice as likely as women In State Institutions to be serving 

their first sentence to probation or 

incarceration (62% versus 28%) 

(table 10). 

Drug offenses Women in Federal 

prison were twice as likely as those 

In State facilities to be serving a 

sentence for a drug offense (66% 

versus 33%) (tables 3 and 14). 

• Women In Federal prisons were half 

as likely as those In State prlsol1s to 

be under the Influence of drugs when 

they committed their current offense 

(16% versus 36%). 

• About 1 In 10 women in Federal 

prisons and over 2 In 10 in State 

prisons committed their offense 

to get money for drugs, 

• 49% of women In Federal prisons 

and 43% in State prisons who had 

used drugs In the month before their 

offense had completed or were 

enrolled In drug treatment (table 19). 

Abuse Women In Federal facilities 

were less likely than those in State 

Institutions to have been physically 

or sexually abused (22% versus 

43%) (table 28), 

Children About 8 In 10 women In 

both Federal and State facilities were 

mothers. About 61 % of women In 

Federal prisons and 67% in State 

prisons had children under the age of 18 (tabie 29), 

PrIson programs About 59% of 

women In Federallnstltutlons and 

45% in State prisons had been 

enrolled In educatlonai programs 

since admission. About 3 In 1 C In 

both types of facilities had received 

vocational trainIng (table SO). 

AIDS Women In Federal prisons 

were less likely than those In State 

prisons to be Infected with the virus 

that causes AIDS (1.7% versus 

3.4%) (tables 35 and 36). 

• 

• 

• 

I 
• 

• 

• 

• 

Table 30. Training, programs, activities, and work assignment 

ot sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, by sex, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Inmates 

All Male Female 

-~-.-.~-~.,...,...~"-",",,--~~-. -,--~~.---"~ 

Federal State Federal ~t~~_ FeE!l!L~~~ltl. ---... -.~-

Any training, programs, 

aallvkles, or work assignment 97.7% 91.1% 97.7% 91.0% 98.7% 93.0% 

TrainIng 

Academic 58.1% 45.8% 66.0% 45.9% 59.1% 44.9% 

Baslo <9th grade 10,4 5.3 10.7 5.3 7.0 5.1 

High school 27.3 27.4 26.6 27.5 35.3 25.6 

College 18.9 14.0 19.0 14.0 17.2 13.7 

Other 8,4 2.6 8.6 2.5 6.0 4.0 

Vocational 29.4 31.4 29.5 31.4 28.8 31.5 

Prog rams/aotlvltles 

Religious 38.5% 32.0% 37.2% 31.2% 53.9% 44.5% 

Self-Improvement 19.8 20.2 17.9 19.5 41.7 32.4 

AlcohoVdnlg support group 9.2 17.1 8.6 17.1 15.5 22.7 

Counseling 11.6 17.1 10.8 16.7 20.2 23.4 

Pre-release 7.0 8.1 6.4 8.0 13.2 8.9 

Arts and crafts 13.1 7.4 11.8 7.1 28.9 12.6 

OutsIde community 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.? 5.8 2.8 

EthnIc or racial 6.1 2.5 5.9 2.5 7.8 2.1 

Work asslgllment 

Any 91.2% 70.0% 91.0% 69.7% 93,4% 74.8% 

General Jan~orlal 11.7 13.4 11.8 13.3 13.7 16.3 

Food preparation ~$l1 tM 13.0 12.5 13.8 16.0 

Maintenance, repair, or construction 14.6 6.0 14.7 9.1 12.4 4.9 

Grounds and road maintenance !'i.4 62 6.3 8.2 7.2 8.4 

Library, barbershop, office, or other servIces i4.S a.o 14.9 7.8 14.3 11.7 

Goods production 2.9 r).~ 2.8 4.3 3.7 5.2 

Farming. forestry, or ranohlng .4 3.9 .4 4.0 .4 2.6 

Laundry 2.3 3.0 2.4 3.0 1.8 4.0 

Hospital or medical 1.7 .5 1.7 .5 1.6 .9 

Other' 24.8 12.0 24.7 11.9 28.5 13.8 

Number of Inmates 53,784 701,775 49,546 663,819 4,218 38,156 

'For Federal prisons Other Is only UNICOR, the Federal prison Industries. 

Activities In prison 

Almost <\11 prison Inmates - 98% 

of Federal Inmates and 91 % of State 

Inmates - reported they were Involved 

In edUcational programs, group activities, or work while In prison (table 30). 

About 58% of Federal Inmates and 

46% of State Inmates had studied In an 

academic program since their admission 

to prison. In both Federal and State 

facilitres, about 3 In 10 had training 

In a vocational program. 

About 39% of Federal Inmates and 32% 

of State Inmates had Joined a religious 

group since their admission, by far the 

most popular of the available programs 

or activities. About 20% of both Federal 

and State prisoners participated In such 

personal Improvement groups as parent· 

lng, Toastmasters, job searching, and 

household finance. 

About 6% of Federal prisoners and 2% 

of State prIsoners Joined ethnic or racial 

organizations such as the NAACP, 

AfrIcan American/Black Culture Group, 

Hispanic Committee, Aztlan, or Lakota. 

Federal prisons, compared to State 

facilities, employ a larger percentage of 

their Inmates. Nine In ten Federal 

prisoners and 7 In 10 State prisoners 

had worked after admission. The most 

frequent Federal Jobs Included UNICOR 

(prison IndUstries) (25%)i services such 

as library, stockroom, store, office help, 

recreation, barber or beauty shop (15%)i 

maintenance or repair/construction 

(15%); food preparation (13%); and 

general Janitorial duties (cleaning) 

(12%). In State prIsons cleaning (13%) 

and food preparation (13%) were the 

most common Inmate duties • 

Comparfng Federal and state Prfson Inmates, 1991 19 
Table 31. Hours worked by sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, 1991 Table 33. Nonmonetary compensation 

for working sentenced Federal and 

Percent of sentenced Inmates State prison Inmates, 1991 

All With work assignments 

Hours y/or~eclper"Y/lilek ~""_.__.~_Jeder~ __ §!!,J~.~~_ .. -EIl..c!!r!lL. _ .. _ §ta~~_._. Percent of Inmates 

Less than 7 hours 

7·19 

20-34 

35-44 

45 or more 

Not assigned a Job 

Number of Inmates 

3.3% 

6.1 

15.1 

61.2 

5.5 

8.9 

53,382 

Of those who had Jobs, three-quarters 

of Federal Inmates and half of State 

Inmates worked 35 hours or more at 

their assignment (table (1). 

For working Inmates 98% of Federal 

Inmates and 88% of State Inmates 

received money, nonmonetary compensation, or both (not shown In a table). 

In Federal prisons 97% of Inmates with 

work assignments received monetary 

compensation, and In State prisons, 

67% (table (2). The average wage In 

Federal prisons was 46 cents per hour, 

and In State prisons, 56 cents. 

About 21% of Federal Inmates and 44% 

of State Inmates who worked received 

nonmonetary compensation that 

Includes good time, cigarettes, food, 

and extra privileges (table (3). The 

most common form of such exchange 

was good time, which compensated 

about 19% of working Federallnrnates 

and 40% of working State Inmates. 

6.2% 3.7% 8.9% 

8.5 6.6 12.3 

18.9 16.6 27.2 

27.5 67.1 39.5 

8.5 6.0 12.2 

30.4 

692,498 48,645 481,943 

Furloughs 

About 5% of both Federal and State 

Inmates had been given furloughs since 

their admission to prison. Of those 

sentenced for a violent offense, 2% In 

Federal prison and 4% In State prison 

reported leaving on a furlough. 

All Inmates 

Violent 

Nonviolent 

Percent of Inmates 

receiving furloughs 

Federal State 

4.9% 5.4% 

2.1 4.4 

5.4 6.3 

Of those prisoners with a furlough, 4% 

of Federal offenders and 32% of State 

offenders were given six or more furloughs (table 34). Among Inmates who 

had received furloughs, almost threequarters of the Federal Inmates and 

over half the State Inmates visited family 

or friends. About 17% of Inmates with 

furloughs from either Federal or State 

prisons attended a funeral. 

Nonmonetary with work assignments 

compe.n~ __ ". __ ._ ... Federal State 

Any 21.1 % 43.5% 

Good time 18.9 39.6 

Cigarettes, food, or other goods .2 .7 

Extra privileges .5 2.9 

Other 2.4 2.2 

Number of Inmates 49,084 491,794 

Table 34. Number of times furloughed 

and the reasons, by sentenced 

Federal and State prison Inmates 

who had been furloughed, 1991 

Percent of Inmates 

with furloughs ____ ~ __ . ~_E~1I9!.al State __ 

Number of times furloughed' 

1 55.3% 41.0% 

2 20.5 12.1 

3-5 20.4 14.6 

6-10 2.2 13.2 

11 or more 1.6 19.0 

Reasons for furloughs 

To visit family or friends 71.6% 59.1% 

To work/find work 7.8 22.2 

To attend classes/school .9 1.3 

To attend funeral 17.6 17.3 

Othar 19.5 14.9 

Number of Inmates 2,607 38,112 

'Ninety-five percent of both Federal and State 

I Inmates had never received a furlough. 

Tabid 32. Compensatlon received by sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, by type of work aSSignment, 1991 

Sentenced prison Inmates with work assignments 

Percent 

Nonmonetary 

. Numbl!L...- Money oompensatlon Average. pay per hour 

W.?l~ .• E!~sJ.!l~I!l~~.\ .~. ., ,,,_,.,, __ ~ ••... ~ •.••• _ ..~e.d.~r.~._._.!>.~tEL.~ •• -E~.!!r~I.~ ... ~.~t~~ .... ~ .. J:.!!~~!aL .... ~!.a.t~. _fElger~_._§..!ate . ___ .... _~_._. 

All Inmates with work assignments 

General Janitorial 

Food preparation 

Maintenance, refjalr, or construction 

Grounds and road maintenance 

Library, barbershop, office, or other services 

Goods produotlon 

Farming, forestry, or ranching 

Laundry 

Hospital or medical 

Other' 

49,065 

6,304 

1,017 

7,823 

3,449 

7,995 

1,559 

211 

1,244 

902 

13,346 

491,327 

94;167 

88,762 

62,120 

57,668 

56,125 

30,391 

27,385 

21,267 

3,600 

63,990 

'For Federal prisons Otharla only UNICOR, the Federal prison Industries. 

20 Comparing Federal and State Prfson Inmates, 1991 

97.3% 67.2% 

93.7 63.3 

97.6 65.7 

98.2 69.5 

95.2 60.3 

96,5 73.2 

98.1 77.1 

100.0 51.2 

97.9 58.1 

96.4 65.3 

99.4 77.3 

21.1% 43.8% $0.46 $0.56 

17.5 40.1 0.24 0.46 

16.7 44.6 0.23 0.43 

18.0. 43.4 0.31 0.94 

14,2 41.9 0.42 0.42 

20.2 43.0 0.38 0.39 

37.3 49.2 0.76 0.84 

15.1 4Q.1 0.17 0.31 

17.4 53.7 0.16 0.43 

26.7 34,1 0.16 0.44 

27.4 41.7 0.85 0.67 

• 

• 

• 
• 

• 

,,; . 

Table 35. Testing for the humsn Immunodeficiency virus and test results, 

by characteristics of sentenced State and Federal Inmates, 1991 

Tested Inmates who re(1orted results 

Percent of Inmates Federal State 

who were ever tested Percent who were Percent who were 

Cha!!!g.·~.klt!c Federal 

Total 58.9% 

Sex 

Male 57.7% 

Female 72.8 

Race/Hispanic origin 

White non-Hispanic 61.9% 

Black non-Hispanic 60.4 

Other 49.9 

Hlspanlo 54.4 

Age 

24 or younger 56.5% 

25-34 59.3 

35-44 60.6 

45-54 59.8 

55 or older 49.8 

Current offense 

Violent 58.3% 

Property 71.0 

Drug 57.2 

Public-order 57.3 

HIV Infection 

About 59% of Federal Inmates and 51 % 

of State Inmates reported the results of 

a test for the hUman Immunodeficiency 

virus (HIV) that causes AIDS (table 35). 

Of tested persons the Federal Inmates 

(1,1, 3%) were less than half as likely as 

State Inmates (2.2%) to be HIV positive. 

• Federal and State, women had higher 

positive rates than menIn Federal facilities 

1.7% for women 

.7 for men 

In Slate faoilities 

3.4% for women 

2.1 for men. 

State Number ~slt!ve Num'Jer --~I!!~--~,-, .. ~-.-.~ ~,_, __ ~ 

51.2% 31,820 .6% 360.402 2.2% 

50.3% 28.748 .7% 334.829 2.1% 

66.8 3.072 1.7 25.574 3.4 

52.6% 12,841 .5% 131,317 1.1% 

52.0 9,750 1.0 166.867 2.6 

5ti.5 1.013 .3 8,425 .9 

46.0 8.217 1.1 53,794 3.8 

50.2% 2.832 .3% 77.442 .8% 

53.0 11.528 .7 170.609 2.1 

51.0 10.770 .9 81.611 3.8 

47.1 4.860 1.4 21.636 1.9 

41.2 1.829 .5 9.105 .7 

47.9% 5.397 1.1% 156,145 1.4% 

56.8 3.887 1.4 98.575 2.7 

52.3 17.780 .6 78.087 3t~ 

51.9 3.822 .6 24.832 1.9 

• Blacks and Hispanics had higher rates 

than whites and those In other racial 

groups-

• Inmates ages 25-54 had higher 

reported seropositive rates than both 

younger and older InmatesIn Federal facilities 

1.1 % for Hispanics 

1.0 for blacks 

.5 for whites 

.3 for Native Americans or Asians 

In State facilities 

3.8% for Hispanics 

2.6 for blacks 

1.1 for whites 

.9 for Native Americans or Asians. 

In Federal facilities 

.7% - 1.4% for ages 25-54 

.3% - .5% for younger or older 

In State facilities 

1.9% - 3.8% for ages 25-G4 

.71.1/0 - .8% for younger or older. 

• In Federal prisons property (1.4%) and 

violent (1.1 %) offenders had higher 

positive rates than drug (0.6%) and 

public-order (0.6%) offenders. In State 

prisons, drug (3.2%) and property 

(2.7%) offenders had higher rates than 

public-order (1.9%) and violent (1.4%) 

offenders. 

Comparing Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 21 
The greater their Involvement with 

drugs, the more likely Inmates were to 

be HIV positive. About 0.3% of tested 

Feder';\l Inmates and 0.8% of tested 

State Inmates who had never used 

drugs were HIV positive (table 36). An 

estimated 1.4% of Federal Inmates and 

2.8% of State Inmates who had used 

drugs In the month before their offense 

were seropositive. Among those who 

had shared Injection syringes for Illegal 

drugs, 5.5% of Federal Inmates and 

7. Flo of State Inmates were positive. 

Among prisoners who had never used 

drugs, men and women In Federal 

prison had roughly the same rate of HIV 

Infection (0.3% and 0.6%), as had men 

and ''Nomen In State facilities (0.80/0 and 

0.9%). 

However, among prisoners who had 

used drugs and had Injected drugs, 

women had higher HIV rates than 

men In both Federal and State prisons. 

• About 3.8% of women In Federal 

prisons and 4.6% In State prisons who 

used drugs In the month before their 

current offense were HIV positive, 

compared to 1.2% of men In Federal 

prisons and 2.7% In State prisons. 

• Among Inmates who had Injected 

drugs, 6.7% of women In Federal 

prisons and 6.9% In State prisons were 

HIV positive, compared to 2.8% of men 

In Federal prisons and 4.7% In State 

prisons. 

-----

Among Federal and State prisoners 

who Injected drugs, whites had lower 

HIV-posltlve rates than minorities. 

• Whites In Federal prisons who used 

drugs In the month before the offense 

had Infection rates of 0.6%, compared 

to 1.5% for blacks and 3% for Hispanics; 

whites who used needles to Inject drugs 

had 1 % HIV rates, compared to 5.4% for 

blacks and 7.3% for Hispanics. 

.- In State p'1!;l1nS 1.5% of whites 

who used drugs In the month before the 

offense were HIV positive, compared to 

3.2% for blacks and 5.3°/) for Hispanics; 

2.5% of whites who used needles to 

Inject drugs were Infected with HIV, 

compared to 7.1 % for blacks and 

8.3% for Hispanics. 

Table 36. Testing positive for the huroan Immunodeficiency virus, by drug and needle use and by sex, 

race/Hispanic origin, age, and current offense of sentenced Federal and State prison Inmates, 1991 

Pe>rcent of sentenced Inmates who tested eosltlve to HIV and who 

Used drugs In the UsEi'Cfilneedle Shared a needle 

Inmate Nevilr used drugs Ever used drugs month bofore offonse to Inject drugs to Inject drugs 

oharacterlstlo Foderal Slate Federal State Federal State Federal Slate Federal State 

All Inmates .3% .6% 1.1% 2.5% 1.4% 2.6% 3.2% 4.9% 5.5% 7.1% 

Sex 

Male .3% .6% 1.0% 2.4% 1.2% 2.7% 2.6% 4.7% 4.9% 6.6% 

Female .6 .9 2.6 3.9 ~.8 4.6 6.7 6.9 10.0 10.2 

Race/Hlspanlo orlllin 

While non-Hlspanlo .6% .3% .4% 1.3% .6% 1.5% 1.0% 2.5% 2.4% 3.7% 

Black non-Hlspanlo .1 1.2 1.5 2.9 1.5 3.2 5.4 7.1 7.4 11.2 

Hispanic .1 .6 2.1 4.4 3.0 5.3 7.3 8.3 11.6 11.4 

Age 

24 or younger 0 0 .6% 1.fl% 0 .6% 0 .6% 0 2.0% 

25-34 0 1.3 1.0 2.2 1.2 2.8 3.1 4.5 5.1 5.9 

35·44 .4 ,9 1.1 4.4 1.2 5.3 2.4 7.1 4.1 10.4 

45-54 .il .8 1.9 2.6 4.5 2.7 6.4 4.5 9.9 5.5 

55 or older 0 .2 2.5 2.1 0 0 8.6 0 15.3 0 

Current offense 

Violent .9% .9% 1.1 % 1.5% 1.8% 1.4% 2,6% 2.7% 4.9% 3.8% 

Property .4 .9 2.6 3.0 3.9 3.5 fl.9 5.2 12.3 5.7 

Drug .1 .2 1.0 3.6 .9 4.6 3.1 6.6 4.2 15.5 

Public-ardor .6 1.0 .5 2.1 1.1 2.4 2.0 3.9 6.2 9.2 

22 ComparIng Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991 

~-~-~-~-~------~- ---- ~ -- - - ---------------"----- ---- --. --------------

• 

• 

• 
• 

• 

• 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HE 

Table 37. Type of usual hc.;uslng unit and type of populatlon 

for sentenced Federal prison Inmates, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Federallnmntes 

General Admission! Segregation! llE!l~.\J!L~ousll}!l~ __ , ____ ~_ population med,\lnl protective custo~ 

Total 100.0% 93.6% 3.9% .7% 1.8% 

An open dorm 7.1 

A dorm with cubicles 26.6 

One-story unit with cells or rooms 6.5 

Multistory unit with cells or rooms 56.1 

Area not originally Intended for housing 1.1 

Other .4 

'Less than 0.1%. 

Tabla 38. Hours spent confined 

to quarters and In exercise or other 

recreation and the number sharing 

living quarters, for sentenced Federal 

prison Inmates, 1991 

Hours spent confined 

to cell, oublcle, room 9 hours 9 hours 

Hours spent doing 

physical exercise 2 hours 2 hours 

Hours spent In other kinds 

of recreation 1 hour 1 hour 

Number of people sharing 

cell, cUblole, room, 

Including Inmate 2 5 

6.6 

27.9 

5,7 

52.1 

1.0 

.3 

.4 

.4 

.5 

2.6 

. .1 

.5 

o 

Conditions of confinement 

In Federal prisons 

Most Federal prisoners (94%) lived 

.1 

.5 

.3 

.9 

. 

with the general population; less than 

1 % lived In segregation or protective 

custody (table 37). Of those In the general population, about half lived In multistory units with cells or rooms. Another 

quarter lived In dorms with cubicles. 

On average, Federal prisoners reported 

spending 9 hours a day In their quarters 

(table 38). Half said they shared with 

one other person. They also said they 

spent an average of 2 hours a day 

exercising and another hour In other 

kinds of recreation. 

Gable 39. Health conditions of sentenced Federal prison Inmates, I by sex and race/Hispanic origin, 1991 

Percent of sentenced Federallnmatas 

Sex Race/Hlspanlo origin 

__ , _______ . __ , __ ~ _____ +.~2t!lL __ -Male ___ ~Jeml!~_, _ Wh~~ ___ §J.~ck· _, HlspanIL __ 

Health conditions or Injuries 

needing medical treatmentb 55.6% 55.2% 60.6% 60.9% 53.0% 52.7% 

Accidental InJury 18.7 18.8 17.6 19.6 20.6 16.0 

IntenUonallojury 1.1 1.1 ,4 1.2 1.0 1.0 

Preexisting medical condition 24.3 23.9 29.0 28.5 22.5 21.6 

New medical condition 22.0 21.7 25.7 24.0 19.4 22.9 

Saw a hea~h care person 

for condition 52.3 51.6 57.6 58.3 49.5 48.5 

"Non-Hispanic only. 

blnmates may have had more than one medloal condition • 

Since their admission to prison, 56% 

of Federal Inmates reported having 

health conditions or Injuries that needed 

medical treatment, primarily pre-existing 

(24%) or new (22%) medical conditions 

like colds or the flu (table 39). About 1 % 

of Inmat~s reported Injuries from 

assaults or fights while In prison. 

Whites were more likely than minority 

Inmates to report having health conditions or Injuries needing medical careprimarily because of pre-existing 

medical conditions. About 61 % of white 

Inmates, 53% of black Inmates, and 

53% of Hispanic Inmates required health 

care In prison, with 29% of whites, 23% 

of blacks, and 22% of Hispanics having 

a pre-existing medical condition. 

Half of Inmates with pre-existing medical 

conditions said they were seen at least 4 

times by health professionals for their 

problems (tabl(9 40). Half of those with 

new conditions saw medical personnel 

at least 3 times, and half Injured In 

assaults or fights saw someone for 

injuries at least once . 

Table 40. Number of times seen 

by health professional since admission 

of sentenced Federal prison Inmates, 

1991 

Cause of Injury 

Accident 

Assault or fight 

Medloal oondltlon 

Number 

Times seen --

since admission 

1~l1ll!te,,- Medlal1._M~_~r:t". 

9,956 

853 

2 

1 

6 

5 

Pre-existing 11,872 4 

3 

15 

New 11,407 7 

Oomparlng Federal and State Prison Inmates .• 1991 23 
Table 41. OphJlons of Federal prison Inmates toward conditions of confinement, 

by sex and race/Hispanic origin, 1991 

Opinion 

Would you say your (cell/cublole/room) Is 

Not at all crowded 

Somewhat crowded 

Very crowded 

Would YO\I say the whole prison Is 

Not at all crowded 

Somewhat crowded 

Very crowded 

How likely Is It that an Inmate would be 

assaulted In this Institution 

Not at all likely 

Somewhat likely 

Likely 

Very likely 

How often do you think Inmates have had 

weapons on them or In their quarters 

Never 

Rarely 

Sometimes 

Frequently 

How often do you have contact with other 

Inmates you know or suspect are Infected 

with the AIDS virus 

Never 

Rarely 

Sometimes 

Frequently 

Would you say the number of Inmates who are 

Infected with the AIDS virus bothers you 

Not at all 

Very little 

Some 

_watdeal 

'Non·Hlspanlc only. 

Federal Inmates' opinions of 

confinement conditions 

When asked their opinion, over a third of 

Federal Inmates said their cell, cubicle, 

or room was very crowded, and twothirds said the whole prison was very 

crowded (table 41). 

A quarter thought It very likely that an 

Inmate would be assaulted In the Institution, and a third thought It not at all 

likely. 

Percent of sentenced Federal Inmates 

Sex Race/Hls~anlc origin 

All Male Female White' 

30.0% 30.0% 30.0% 22.8% 

33.5 33.8 29.7 38.4 

36.5 36.2 40.3 38.8 

10.7% 11.0% 7.7% 8.6% 

22.7 23.1 17.6 25.4 

66.6 65.9 74.7 66.0 

32.0% 32.4% 27.1% 29.3% 

29.2 29.5 26.4 31.5 

14.4 14.2 16.1 16.5 

24.4 23.9 30.4 22.7 

41.9% 41.4% 46.7% 35.4% 

23.1 23.3 20.4 2B.O 

1B.9 1B.9 1B.9 20.0 

16.1 16.3 14.0 16.6 

57.B% 59.7% 36.9% 49.5% 

14.0 14.1 13.0 16.5 

12.6 12.2 17.3 15.2 

15.6 14.0 32.B lB.7 

31.B% 31.3% 37.7% 23.7% 

10.6 10.4 13.0 10.6 

18.0 17.B 19.4 22.1 

39.B 40.4 29.B 43.5 

About 4 In 10 said they thought Inmates 

never had weapons on themselves or 

In their quarters, and between 1 and 2 

In 10 said they thought Inmates 

frequently had weapons. 

Black' Hls~anlc 

31.8% 38.0% 

33.7 27.0 

34.5 35.1 

9.6% 15.5% 

21.7 20.4 

68.7 64.2 

24.0% 45.5% 

29.9 25.0 

14.1 11.6 

32.1 17.9 

32.8% 60.1% 

23.5 16.6 

20.9 14.9 

22.B B.5 

55.4% 70.B% 

13.9 10.8 

12.7 9.1 

17.9 9.3 

32.0% 43.5% 

11.0 10.5 

15.7 14.8 

_41.3 31.2 

About 58% said they never had contact 

with Inmates they suspected of being 

Infected with AIDSj 16% said they had 

frequent contact. About 3 In 10 said the 

number of prisoners with AIDS did not 

bother them st ail, and 4 In 10 said they 

were bothered a great deal. 

24 ComparIng Federal and State PrIson Inmates, 1991 

'----------------------------

• 

• 

• 
• 

• 

• 

The 1991 Survey of Inmates in Federal 

Correctional Facilities (SIFCF) was 

conducted for the Bureau of Prisons and 

the Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities (SISCF) for the Bureau 

of Justice Statistics by the U.S. Bureau 

of the Census. 

During June, July, and August 1991, 

inmates in both types of facilities were 

confidentially Interviewed about their 

current offense and sentence, criminal 

history, family and personal background, gun possession and use, prior 

drug and alcohol use and treatment, and 

educational programs and other services 

provided while in prison. This was the 

first time the Bureau of Prisons, using a 

questionnaire developed by BJS, Intervlsded inmates In their population at the 

same time that the Survey of Inmates 

in State Correctional Facilities was conducted. Similar prior surveys of State 

prison Inmates were conducted In 1974, 

1979, and 1986. 

Sample design 

The sample for the SIFCF was selected 

from a universe of 95 Federal prisons 

operating In March 1991. The sample 

for the SISCF was taken from a universe 

of 1,239 State prisons either enumerated In the 1990 Census of State and 

Federal Adult Correctional Facilities or 

opened between completion of the 

census and February 29, 1991. The 

sample design for both surveys was a 

stratified two-stage selection: selecting 

prisons and then selecting inmates In 

those prisons. 

In the first stage correctional facilities 

were separated Into two sampling 

frames: one for prisons with male 

inmates and one for prisons with female 

Inmates. All Federal prisons held members of only one sex. State prisons 

holding both sexes were Included on 

both lists. 

For the sample of Federal prisons the 

26 largest prisons holding men and the 

6 largest prisons holding women were 

selected with certainty. The remaining 

55 male facilities were stratified into 19 

roughly equal size strata based mainly 

on security level (high, medium, low, 

minimum, and administrative). The 

eight female facilities were stratified Into 

two strata by security level. One facility 

was selected from 6ach of the 21 strata, 

with probability proportionate to size. 

In the sampling of State facilities the 51 

male prisons with 1,950 or more inmates 

and the 30 female prisons with 380 or 

more Inmates were selected with 

certainty. The remaining fp.clllties were 

stratified Into eight strata defined by 

census region (Northeast, Midwest, 

South, and West) and facility type 

(confinement and community-based). 

The remaining prisons In the male frame 

were grouped Into equal size strata of 

about 2,600 men and then stratified by 

security level (maximum, medium, minimum, and unclassified)" The remaining 

prisons In the female frame were also 

grouped Into strata of about 574 women. 

A systematic sample of prisons was 

then selected within strata on each 

frame with probabilities proportionate 

to the size of each prison. 

Overall, 45 male facilities and 8 female 

facilities were selected for the Federal 

survey, and ali participated, For the 

State survey 273 prisons were selected, 

226 male facilities and 51 female facilities, with 4 of the facilities holding both 

men and women. Of these facilities, 

one refused to allow Interviewing, one 

closed before the survey could be 

conducted, and one facility that had 

housed both men and women moved 

the women before the survey. Interviews were conducted In all other State 

facilities. 

In the second stage Inmates were 

selected for Interviewing. For the Federal facilities a systematic sample of 

Inmates to be Interviewed was selected 

for each facility from the Bureau of Prisons' central list using a random start and 

a total number of Interviews based on 

the size of the facility and the sex of the 

Inmates held • 

Methodology 

For State facilities, Interviewers selected 

the sample systematically In the same 

manner at the facility site. As a result, 

about 1 In every 9 men and 1 In every 2 

women were selected for the Federal 

survey and 1 In every 52 men and 1 In 

every 11 women In the State survey. A 

total of 6,572 Interviews were completed ' 

for the Federal survey and 13,986 for 

the State survey, for overall response 

rates of 93.4% In the Federal survey 

and 93.7% In the State survey. 

Based on the completed Interviews, 

estimates for the entire population 

were developed using weighting factors 

derived from the original probability of 

selection In the sample. These factors 

were adjusted for variable rates of nonresponse across strata and Inmates' 

characteristics. The sample from the 

Federal facilities was weighted to the 

total known sentenced population at 

midyear 1991. The sample for the State 

survey was adjusted to midyear custody 

counts projected from data obtained In 

the National Prisoner Statistics series 

(NPS-1) . 

Accuracy of the estimates 

The accuracy of the estimates presented in this report depends on two types 

of error: sampling and nonsampling. 

Sampling error is the variation that may 

occur by chance because a sample 

r~ther than a complete enumeration 

of the population was conducted. Nonsampling error can be attributed to many 

sources, such as nonresponses, differences In the Interpretation of questions 

among inmates, recall difficulties, and 

processing errors. In any survey the full 

extent of the nonsampilng error Is never 

known. The sampling error, as measured by an estimated standard error, 

varies by the size of the estimate and 

the size of the base population. 

ComparIng Federal and State PrIson Inmates, 1991 25 
Estimates of the standard errors have 

been calculated for the 1091 surveys. 

(See appendix tables). For example, 

the 95-percent confidence Interval 

around the percentage of Inmates who 

were In State prison for a drug offense 

Is approximately 21.4% plus or minus 

1.96 times 0.5% (or 20.4% to 22.4%). 

These standard errors may also be used 

to test the significance of the difference 

between two sample statistics by pooling 

the standard errors of the two sample 

estimates. For example, tha standard 

error of the difference between black 

and white State prison Inmates for the 

percentage In prison for drug offenses 

would be 1.1% (or the square root of the 

sum of the squared standard errors for 

each group). The 95-percent confidence 

Interval around the difference would be 

1.96 times 1.1% (or 2.2%). Since the 

difference of 12.9% (24.9% minus 12%) 

Is greater than 2.2%. the difference 

would be considered statistically 

significant. 

The same procedure can be used to test 

the significance of the difference between estimates from the two surveys. 

For example, the standard error of the 

difference between Federal and State 

prison Inmates for the percentage In 

prison for drug offenses would be 1 %. 

The 95-percent confidence Interval 

around the difference would be 1.96 

times 1% (or 2%). Since the difference 

of 36.6% (57.9% minus 21.3%) Is 

greater than 2%, the difference would 

be considered statistically significant. 

All comparisons discussed In this report 

were statistically significant at the 95· 

percent confidence level. To test the 

significance of comparisons not mentioned In this report. use percentages 

In text or tables and numbers of Inmates. The standard errors reported 

In the two appendix tables should be 

used only for tests on all Inmates. 

Comparisons of male and female 

Inmates require different standard 

errors. 

Appendix table 1. Standard errors of the estimated percentages, 

Federal prison Inmates, 1991 

Base of Estimated percentagfls 

the estimate 98 or 2 95 or 5 90 or 10 80 £I'_~L.10 0L~~_~L~~~ ___ .~_. _ 

50 

400 

800 

2,000 

4,000 

~.wQ 

15,000 

30.000 

45,000 

54,006 

7.0 

2.5 

1.7 

1.1 

0,8 

0.6 

0.4 

0.3 

0.2 

0.2 

10.9 

3.8 

2.7 

1.7 

1.2 

0.9 

0.6 

0.4 

0.4 

0.3 

14.9 

5.3 

3.7 

2.4 

1.7 

1.2 

0.9 

0.6 

0.5 

0.5 

19.9 

7.0 

5.0 

3.1 

2.2 

1.6 

1.2 

0.8 

0.7 

0.6 

22.8 24.9 

8.1 8.8 

5.7 6.2 

3.6 3.9 

2.6 2.8 

1.8 2.0 

1.3 1.4 

0.9 1.0 

0.8 0.8 

0.7 0.8 

Appendix table 2. Standard errors of the estimated percentages, 

State prison Inmates, 1991 

Base of Estimated peroentages 

t~~stlmllte. 9(t or2 __ 9_5 or_5 _~9.0_2.U.Q~'?.Q~JQ_O! .. ~(L._5Q. ___ ~~ ._~~_ 

1,000 

5,000 

10,000 

25,000 

50,000 

100,000 

200,000 

400,000 

600,000 

711,643 

4.9 

2.2 

1.6 

1.0 

0.7 

0.5 

0.4 

0.2 

0.2 

0.2 

7.7 

3.4 

2.4 

1.5 

1.1 

0.8 

0.5 

0.4 

0.3 

0.3 

lo.G 

P 

3.4 

2.1 

1.5 

1.1 

0.8 

0.5 

0.4 

0.4 

14.1 

6.3 

4.5 

2.8 

2.0 

1.4 

1.0 

0.7 

0.6 

0.5 

16.2 17.7 

7.2 7.9 

5.1 5.6 

3.2 3.5 

2.3 2.5 

1.6 1.8 

1.1 1.2 

0.8 0.9 

0.7 0.7 

0.6 0.7 

26 Comparing Federal and State PrIson Inmates, 1991 

1 

• 

• 

• 
• 

• 

• 

Bureau of Justice Statistics 

reports 

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Police response to crime, NCJ 143286. 10/94 

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1973·92 trends, NCJ·147006, 8/94 

1992 (Iinal). NCJ·145125, 4/94 

Violent crime: Solocted IIndlng~, 

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Elderly crime victims: Selected findings, 

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package, NCJ·140091, 4193. $15 

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and rural aroas, NCJ·135943. 6/92 

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The Nation's two crime measures: Uniform 

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Survey. NCJ·122705. 4190 

Redesign 01 the National Crime Survey, 

NCJ,111457.3I69 

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NCJ·ll1033.6188 

Victimization and lear 01 crime: World 

perspectives, NCJ·93072. 1185. $9,15 

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Vol. I, History, NCJ·75374. 8182 

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BJS crimo dat,l briofs 

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NCJ·148199.7194 

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New directions for NCS, NCJ·115571. 3189 

Series crimes: Report of a field test, 

NCJ·l04615.4187 

Corrections 

rus bulla/ins and specIal reports 

Prisoners In 1993, NCJ·147036. 0/94 

Women In prison, NCJ·145321. 3/94 

Capital punishment 1992, NCJ·145031. 

12!9~ 

HIV In U.S. prisons and lolls, NCJ·143292. 

9193 

Drug enforcement nnd treatment 

In prisons, 1990, NCJ·134724. 7192 

Violent State prisoners and their victims, 

NCJ·124133.7190 

Prison rule violators, NCJ·120344. 12189 

Recidivism 01 prisoners released In 1983, 

NCJ·116261.4/89 

Drug use end crime: !)tate prison Inmnte 

survey, 1986, NCJ·111940. 7186 

Time served In prison and on pnrole, 1984, 

NC, 108544.12187 

Courts 

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Prosecutors In State courts 

1992, NCJ·145319. 12193 

1990, NCJ·134500. 3/92 

Felony sentences In State courts 

1990, NCJ·140186. 3/93 

1988, NCJ·126923. 12190 

Pretrial release of lei any defendants 

1990, NCJ·139560. 11192 

1988, NCJ·127202. 2/91 

Criminal defense lor the poor. 1986. 

NCJ·112919.9188 

BJS speCial reports 

Felony sentencing In the United Iltates, 

NCJ·149077. 9194 

Murder In families, NCJ·14349B. 7194 

Murder In large urban counttes, 1988, 

NCJ.140614.3/93 

Recidivism of felons on probation, 

1986·89, NCJ.134177. 2/92 

Felony caso processing In State courts, 

1986, NCJ·121753. 2190 

Profit·' ~f State prldon Inmates. 1986, Felony delendants In large urban countiest 

NCJ'109926.1/88 National Pretrial Reporting Program 

Imprisonment In four countries, 1992, NCJ·148826. 8194 

NCJ.l03967.2187 1990, NCJ·141872, 5193 

Comparing Federal and State prison Inmates National Judicial Reporting Program 

1991, NCJ.145864. 9/94 ' 1990, NCJ·145323, 12/93 

Prolile of Inmates In the United States and In 1988, NCJ·135945, 1/93 

En9liand and Wales, 1991, NCJ.145863. 9194 Felons sentenced to probation In State 

Natlonat Corrections Reporting Program: courts, 1986, NCJ·124944. 11/90 

1992, NCJ.145862. 9/94 Felony delendants In large urban counties, 

1991, NCJ.145861. 2194 1988, NCJ·122385, 4190 

Correetlonal populations In the US. Felony lows 01 50 States and the District of 

1991, NCJ.142729. 8/93 • .. Columbia, 19B6, NCJ·l0SQ66. 2/88. $14,60 

1990, NCJ.134046. 7/92 State court model statistical dictionary: 

Survey 01 State prison Inmates 1991 Supplement, NCJ·98326. 9/85 NCJ.136949.5/93 " ls\ edition, NCJ·62320. 9/80. $10.60 

Census of State and Federal correctional 

facilities, 1990, NCJ.137003. 6/92 Privacy and security 

Prisons and prisoners In the United States, 

NCJ·137002,4/92 

State and Federal Inslltutlo"", 1926·86: 

Race 01 prisoners admitted, NCJ·125618. 

6/91 

Historical statistics on prisoners, 

NCJ·l11098.6/88 

Census of Jails and survey 

of jail Inmates 

BJS bullotins and spocial reports 

Jail Inmates, 1992, NCJ·143284. 8/93 

Drunk driving: 1989 Survey of Inmates 

of Local Jails, NCJ· t34728. 9/92 

Women In lall, 1909, NCJ·134732. 3192 

Drugs and Jail Inmates, NCJ·130836, 8/91 

Profile 01 JalllnmateG, 1989, 

NCJ·129097.4/91 

Population density In local lolls, 1988, 

NCJ·122299,3/90 

Census of locallall8, 1988: 

Summary and methodology, vol. I, 

NCJ·127992.3/91 

Data for Individual Jails In the Northeast, 

Midwest, South, West, vols. II·V, 

NCJ.130759·130762, 9/~1 

Census of local Jails, 1983: Selected 

findings, vol. V, NCJ·112795, 11/88 

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Violators, NCJ·149076. 9/94 

1993 (press reloaso). NCJ· t49730. 9/94 

1992, NCJ.146412. 9/04 

1990, NCJ·133285. 11191 

Recidivism 01 young parolees, 

NCJ·l04916.5/67 

Criminal Justica Inlormatlon policy: 

Use and management 01 criminal history 

record Information: A comprohenslve 

report, NCJ·143501. 11193 

Survey 01 criminal history Information 

systems, 1992, NCJ·143500. 11193 

Report of the National Task Force on 

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Reporting, NCJ·135836, 6/92 

Attorney General's program for Improving 

the Nation's criminal history records: 

BJS Implementatton status report, 

NCJ.134722,3/92 

Identifying lelons Who attempt to 

purchase firearms, NCJ·144393. 10/69 

Identifying persons, other than lolons, 

who attempt to purchaso firearms, 

NCJ·123050, 3190. $9,90 

Assessing completene.s and accuracy 

of criminal history record Information: 

Audit guide, NCJ.133651, 2102 

Forensic DNA analysis: Issues, 

NCJ·128587,6/91 

Statutes requiring use of criminal history 

record Inlormatlon, NCJ·129896. 6/91 

Original records of entry, NCJ·125826. 1191 

Strateglos lor Improving data quality, 

NCJ·115339.5/09 

Public access to criminal history record 

Informatton, NCJ·111458. 11188 

Juvenile records and recordkeeplng 

systems, NCJ·112815. 11/86 

Automated fingerprint Idontlflcatlon 

systeme: Technology and policy Issues, 

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CrimInal IUstice "hot" Illes, NCJ·l01850. 

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Expert witness manual, NCJ·77927. 9181. 

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Child rape victims, 1992, NCJ·147001. 6194 Juvenile corrections 

Crime nnd neighborhoods, NCJ·147005. 0/94 

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NCJ·147003, 4194 and shelter faclllllo9, 1975'OS. NCJ·114085. 

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Black victims, NCJ·122562. 4100 

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lochllleal roport). NCJ·133018. 0/92 

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1992 summary, NCJ·137050.1192 

1992 futt report (1.500pp. microfiche $2, 

hard copy. NCJ·139126. $104). 7192 

strangers. NCJ·l03702. 1187 

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women, NCJ·l02037. 8180 See order form on last page 

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100 or more ollicers, NCJ·134438. 9/92 

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agencies 1992, NCJ·142972. 7/93 

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departments, 1990, NCJ·134~05. 5/92 

State and local police departments, 1990, 

NCJ·133284.2192 

Sheriffs' departments, 1990, NCJ.133283, 

2192 

Police departments In large cities, 1987, 

NCJ·119220. B/B9 

Profile of State and local law enforcement 

agencies, 1987, NCJ·113949. 3189 

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Stato drug resour~es: 1994 national 

directory, NCJ·147708, 9/94 

Drugs and crime facts, 1993, NCJ·146246, 8/94 

Drugs, crime, and the Justice system: 

A national report, NCJ.133652, 5/93 

Technical appendix, NCJ·139578. 6/93 

Catalog of selected Federal publications 

on Illegal drug and alcohol abuse, 

NCJ·139562,6/93 

Federal drug data for national policY, 

NCJ·122715,4/90 

Federal Justice statistics 

Foderal drug case processing, 1985·91, with 

preliminary data lor 1992, NCJ·144392, 3/94 

Fedoral criminal case processing, 1962-91, 

with preliminary data for 1992, 

NCJ·144526.11193 

Compendium 01 Federallustlce statistics: 

1990, NCJ·143499, 9/93 

Federal offenses and offenders 

BJS bulletins and speciat reports 

Pretrial releaee 01 Federal lelony 

defendants, 1990, NCJ·145322. 2/94 

Prosecuting criminal enterprises, 

NCJ·142524.11/93 

Federal senlenclng In traneltion, 1986·90, 

NCJ·134727.6/92 

Immigration offenses, NCJ·124546, 8190 

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BJS bulletins and spaCial reports 

Tracking offenders, 1990, NCJ·148200, 7/94 

BJS telephone contacts, '94, NCJ·143707, 

11/93 

BJS discussion papers: 

Sentencing In the Foderal courts: Does 

race molter? The transition to 

sentencing guidelines, 1986·90 

Summary, NCJ·145332. 12193 

Full repurt, NCJ·145328. 12/93. $5 

Perlormance measures lor tho criminal 

justice system: Papers from the BJS· 

Princeton Project, NCJ·143505, 10193 

Local prosecution of organized crime: 

USI) of State RICO statutes, NCJ·143502, 

10/93 

Felony sentencing and loll characteristics, 

NCJ·142523,6193 

Sourcebook of criminal Justice statistics, 

1993, NCJ·148211. 9/94. $6 

1992, NCJ·143496, 0/93. $6 

Enhancing capacities and confronting 

controversies In criminal Justice: 

Proceedings of a BJS/JRSA conforenca, 

NCJ·14G310.8/94 

BJS FY 1994 program plan, NCJ·148138, 6194 

Firearms and crimes 01 Violence: Selected 

findings, NCJ·148844. 2/94 

Incldent·Based Reporting System: 

Demonslratlng tho operationat utility of 

Incldent·basod data for local crime 

analysis: Tacoma, Wash., nnd NeW 

/ledlord, Mass" NCJ·145860. 6194 

Using NIBRS data to analyzo violent crime 

(ToChnical Report). NCJ·14478S. 11193 

Directory of automated criminal Juatlce 

Information systems, 1993: Vol, 1, Law 

enforcement, NCJ·142845.9/93, $S 

Vol. 2, Corrections, courts, probatlonl 

parole, prosecution, NCJ·142646. 9/93. $4 

Publications of BJS, 1985·99: 

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Bibliography, 19030013, 5/90. $1750 

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Bibliography, TB030012. 10/SS. $17,50 

Report to the Nation on crlmo and Justice: 

Second edition, NCJ·l05506, 6/08 

Technical appondlx, NCJ·112011. 0/88. $8.40 
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ICOrrecnonalPopu~nons 

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The 8th annual BJS report 

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