An estimated 4.8 million adult Americans (2.5 percent of the population) were under some form of correctional supervision in 1992; nearly 75 percent of these people were on probation or parole. Local jails held an estimated 442,000 adults on June 30, 1992 (91 percent male; 40 percent white, 44 percent black, and 15 percent Hispanic), representing an increase of 142 percent from 1980 figures. More than 2.8 million adults were on probation on December 31, 1992; 20 percent were women, a larger proportion than for any other correctional population. The number of adults on probation increased 152 percent between 1980 and 1992. Nearly 851,000 adults were in custody of State or Federal prisons at the end of 1992; about 95 percent were male, 48 percent were white, and 50 percent were black. The total increase in the number of prison inmates since 1980 was 166 percent. The number of persons on parole, 659,000 adults in 1992, grew 199 percent since 1980, more than that of any other correctional population. During 1992, 265 convicted offenders were sentenced to death; 13 States executed 31 male prisoners during the year. Trends noted between 1980 and 1992: the dramatic growth in number of inmates, changing demographics of inmates, increasing number of drug offenders, increasing number of parole and probation offenders entering prison, and wide variations in incarceration rates among population groups classified by age, sex, race, and educational level. 99 tables and 9 figures
Correctional Populations in the United States, 1992
NCJ Number
146413
Date Published
January 1995
Publication Series
Annotation
These statistics cover persons who fell under some form of correctional supervision in 1992. The report attempts to make readily apparent the links between different correctional institutions or methods in each State, to suggest similarities and differences between States and regions, and to compare figures, whenever possible, with previous years' statistics.
Abstract
Date Published: January 1, 1995