DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03714.v1
title: Trends in Substance Abuse and Treatment Needs Among Inmates in the United States, 1996-1997
title: Version 1

description: This data collection consists of the SPSS syntax used to
 recode existing variables and create new variables from the SURVEY OF
 INMATES OF LOCAL JAILS, 1996 [ICPSR 6858] and the SURVEY OF INMATES IN
 STATE AND FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES, 1997 [ICPSR 2598]. Using
 the data from these two national surveys on jail and prison inmates,
 this study sought to expand the analyses of these data in order to
 fully explore the relationship between type and intensity of substance
 abuse and other health and social problems, analyze access to
 treatment and services, and make estimates of the need for different
types of treatment services in correctional systems.
description: Substance abuse and the enforcement of anti-drug
 laws have fundamentally affected the growth of America's prisons and
 jails over the past 20 years and the types of inmates they
 house. Research has documented the connections between the use of
 illegal drugs and the abuse of alcohol and crime. It has been shown
 that (1) a substantial proportion of inmates incarcerated for violent
 crimes are substance-involved, (2) the majority of inmates serving
 time for property offenses are involved with drugs and alcohol, and
 (3) prison and jail inmates have a substantially higher prevalence of
 drug use and higher rates of drinking than the general
 population. This study sought to present a comprehensive analysis of
 the substance use patterns of inmates and the relationship between
 substance abuse and the growth in the inmate population. Moreover,
 using data from two national surveys on jail and prison inmates
 (SURVEY OF INMATES OF LOCAL JAILS, 1996: [UNITED STATES] [ICPSR 6858]
 and SURVEY OF INMATES IN STATE AND FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES,
 1997 [ICPSR 2598], respectively), this study sought to expand the
 analyses of these data in order to fully explore the relationship
 between type and intensity of substance abuse and other health and
 social problems, analyze access to treatment and services, and make
 estimates of the need for different types of treatment services in
correctional systems.
description: This data collection consists of the SPSS syntax
 used to recode existing variables and create new variables from the
 SURVEY OF INMATES OF LOCAL JAILS, 1996 (Part 1) and the SURVEY OF
 INMATES IN STATE AND FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES, 1997 (Part 2).
 The SURVEY OF INMATES OF LOCAL JAILS, sponsored by the United States
 Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, is collected
 every six years and provides nationally representative data on persons
 held prior to trial and on convicted offenders serving sentences in
 local jails or awaiting transfer to state prisons. Data cover
 demographic characteristics of jail inmates (sex, race, ethnicity,
 Hispanic origin, employment), current offenses and sentences,
 detention status, trial, bail, characteristics of victims, criminal
 histories, incident characteristics, socioeconomic circumstances, jail
 conditions and activities, and prior drug and alcohol use and
 treatment. The SURVEY OF INMATES IN STATE AND FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL
 FACILITIES, conducted every five years, is designed by the Bureau of
 Justice Statistics and administered by the Bureau of the Census as
 part of a series of data-gathering efforts undertaken to assist
 policymakers in assessing and remedying deficiencies in the nation's
 correctional institutions. This survey is used to gather nationally
 representative data on state prison inmates and sentenced federal
 inmates held in federally owned and operated facilities. Through
 personal interviews, inmates in both state and federal prisons provide
 information about their current offense and sentence, criminal
 history, family background and personal characteristics, prior drug
 and alcohol use and treatment programs, gun possession and use, gang
 membership, and prison activities, programs, and services. Other
 variables include age, ethnicity, education, lifetime drug use,
 drinking pattern prior to arrest, prior incarceration record, and
pre-arrest annual income.
description: New variables that can be created using the Part 1
 and Part 2 syntax include typologies of drug and alcohol offender
 (e.g., substance-involved offender, regular drug users, non-using drug
 law violators, alcohol-involved offenders, drug experimenters, and
 non-drug users), whether first through fifth offenses were drug law
 violations, treatment experiences (e.g., whether attended alcohol or
 drug programs while under correctional supervision, while
 incarcerated, or while on parole), treatment recommendations (e.g.,
 residential drug treatment, outpatient drug treatment, or short-term
 intervention), whether an offender had psychiatric problems,
 educational needs, whether family members ever served time in prison,
 income (illegal and otherwise) before offense, employment status prior
 to arrest, number of minor children, whether an offender was
 physically or sexually abused or raped, the amount of money offender
 spent on drugs (barbiturates, methaqualon, tranquilizers,
 methamphetamines, crack, cocaine, heroin, PCP, LSD, inhalants, and
 other unspecified drugs), whether these drugs were used in the month
 before or at the time of offense, how often the drugs were used (daily
 or weekly), age when first used drugs, and whether offender was
HIV-positive.
description: Response Rates: inap.
description: Presence of Common Scales: inap.
description: inap.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: SPSS Syntax for Jail Data
DS2: SPSS Syntax for Prison Data
description: inap.
description: (1) In order to use the SPSS syntax files provided in
 this collection, users must first obtain the SURVEY OF INMATES IN
 LOCAL JAILS, 1996: [UNITED STATES] (ICPSR 6858) and SURVEY OF INMATES
 IN STATE AND FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES, 1997 (ICPSR 2598)
 available from the ICPSR Web site (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu). Users
 are also strongly encouraged to review the codebooks for both studies
 for additional processing information and sampling details. (2) The
 user guide is provided by ICPSR as Portable Document Format (PDF)
 files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated
 and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe
 Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat
Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.