NCJ Number
108267
Date Published
1987
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Research in progress in British high-security facilities has sought to examine the degree to which different indices for identifying difficult and dangerous inmates remain stable over time, the characteristics associated with perceived dangerousness, intragroup differences in dangerousness and their relevance to management issues, and differences between long-term inmates identified as control problems and those not so identified.
Abstract
Results of a series of studies suggest that a significant minority of notably difficult inmates exists and that they could be identified using conventional measures. Major characteristics of this group include greater violence, greater perceived dangerousness, increased disruptiveness inside prison, and greater history of psychiatric disturbance. These studies led to the identification of eight clusters of control-problem inmates and the development of a rating scale capable of discriminating among various inmate groups. The rating scale considers history of institutional violence, severity of current offense, prior assaultive conviction history, escape history, disciplinary reports and most severe report, and prior convictions. 2 figures, 11 tables, 1 note, and 4 references.