U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Disabilities Reported by Prisoners: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016

NCJ Number
252642
Date Published
March 2021
Annotation

This brief presents findings based on data collected in the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, a survey conducted through face-to-face interviews with a national sample of state and federal prisoners across a variety of topics, such as their demographic characteristics, socio-economic background, health, and involvement with the criminal justice system.

Abstract

This brief presents findings based on data collected in the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, a survey conducted through face-to-face interviews with a national sample of state and federal prisoners across a variety of topics, such as their demographic characteristics, socio-economic background, health, and involvement with the criminal justice system. This brief on disabilities details statistics about demographics and types of disabilities reported by prisoners.

Highlights
  • Nearly 2 in 5 (38%) state and federal prisoners had at least one disability in 2016.
  • The most commonly reported type of disability among both state and federal prisoners was a cognitive disability (23%), followed by ambulatory (12%) and vision (11%) disabilities.
  • Among all prisoners, 24% reported that a doctor, psychologist, or teacher had told them at some point in their life that they had an attention deficit disorder.
  • Nearly a quarter of all prisoners reported participating in special education classes (24%).
  • State and federal prisoners (38%) were about two and a half times more likely to report a disability than adults in the U.S. general population (15%).

Date Published: March 30, 2021