The studies were conducted to provide a consistent and comprehensive description of convicted persons' entrance into and departure from correctional custody and correctional supervision. To achieve this goal, data were collected from official State prison records on topics such as race, sex, and age of inmates, length of time in jail, length of time in prison, and type of offense committed. Data for 1987 were collected from the prison systems of 35 States, as well as the Federal Prison System, the California Youth Authority, and the District of Columbia; data for 1988 were collected from the State prison systems of 36 States, as well as the Federal Prison System, the California Youth Authority, and the District of Columbia. The universe for both studies was all persons incarcerated in prisons in the United States. The time period for each of the studies was from January 1 of the target year to December 31 of that year. Event/transaction data and administrative records data constitute the data type. Files on the CD-ROM also include codebooks, data processing information, and SAS and SPSS data definition statements.