There was an increase in the number of inmates who are seeking substance abuse treatment, but most still have never sought treatment of any kind. Only 17 percent of active drug users and 10 percent of inmates overall had participated in a treatment or self-help program since admission. Almost a third of inmates said their parents or guardians had abused alcohol or drugs. The survey also showed that a substantial number of jail inmates were unemployed, grew up in single-parent homes, and were sexually or physically abused as children. The report's findings are based on hour-long interviews with a nationally representative sample of over 6,000 inmates from 431 locally administered jails.
Jails typically house unsentenced individuals and people serving sentences of a year or less.
The survey was conducted between October 1995 and March 1996 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.