NCJ Number
96432
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 8 Issue: 1-2 Dated: (Spring/Winter 1984) Pages: 93-100
Date Published
1984
Length
7 pages
Annotation
A number of theorists have suggested that prison overcrowding produces greater tendencies toward violence and interpersonal aggression. Empirical studies of the effects of overcrowding on the prison population have been conducted on individual inmate buffer zones, or have focussed on specific institutions within a state or federal prison system.
Abstract
This paper reevaluates the relationship between prison overcrowding and inmate violence using official data reported for fifty-one (N = 51) Departments of Corrections reported in the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics. Results of the analysis indicate that although overcrowding relates to the number of suicides and homicides in expected directions, these connections reverse themselves as indicators of inmate violence are translated into percentages of respective inmate populations. The number of suicides reported explains a significant (R2 =.27) portion of the variance in the number of homicides and clearly suggests that both forms of violence tend to occur together in state reporting areas. (Publisher abstract)