Citation

Sechrest DK. J. Crim. Justice 1991; 19(3): 211-223.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0047-2352(91)90001-C

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Jail populations in the United States grew at a rate of almost 10 percent a year 1978 and 1987. May operate beyond their rated capacities, often holding offenders for other jurisdictions. Such increases in jail populations raise questions about the potential for increased violence as jails become crowded. This study focused on inmate-on-inmate and inmate-on-staff assaults in the living units of a 1,400-bed men's pretrial detention facility. Assault rates were examined for various living areas and by types of assault, density, racial composition, and age. Findings show that the locaton of the assaults, based on inmate classification, was more important than density alone, or “crowding.” Neither age nor racial composition was significantly related to assaults in this jail. Good classification, adequate staffing, and better supervision methods appear more likely to reduce assaults in jails than efforts aimed only to reduce crowding.