Most information was collected from the Criminal Justice Institute's own telephone and mail surveys conducted from October 1, 1980, to January 5, 1981. The guide opens with an interview with Allen F. Breed, an authority on U.S. corrections, in which he responds to four questions concerning increased numbers of adult inmates, the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs within prisons, changes in the juvenile justice system, and the use of community-based facilities in corrections. The section on adult offenders presents data on the number of prisons in the United States; a summary of current and proposed prison construction; prison population by State and sex on January 1, 1981; new prison facilities constructed by State and by the Federal Bureau of Prisons 1979-80, including dollar cost and number of beds added; number of correctional employees; and inmate racial composition by State. Other data in this section pertain to death row statistics, staff deaths by violence in 1980, prisoner escapes during 1980, inmate characteristics, types of prison programs, and correctional budgets. The section on juvenile offenders provides information on the number of juvenile correctional facilities by type of facility, the number of juveniles in confinement by State and sex, length of time served, new construction figures, employee statistics, correctional budgets, and other data similar to that given for adult offenders. In addition, key State senators and legislators concerned with correctional affairs are listed, along with their telephone numbers. The guide also describes briefly the principal characteristics of correctional systems in Canada, Great Britain, Denmark, France, Japan, South Africa, Sweden, and West Germany. Tables and footnotes are included.