Name of Report: Rhode Island Department of Corrections Year-End Report Calendar Year 2002
Organizational Affiliation: Rhode Island Department of Corrections
Author: Ashbel T. Wall (Director of the Planning & Research Unit, Administrative Division of the RI Department of Corrections), Bree Derrick, Erin Boyar, and Anne-Marie Bandieri (Planning & Research Unit).
Contact Information: Department of Corrections. The John O. Pastore Government Center . 40 Howard Ave. Cranston , R.I. 02920 . 401-462-2611
Date: December 2002
Pages: 28
Content Summary
This report provides data on the prison population of the RI Department of Corrections during the year 2002. Primarily, most of the data included pertains to the prison population as of December 31, 2002 . The report is largely composed of charts, tables, and graphs that break down the various factors that contributed to the prison configuration. Also included is detailed information related to the probation and parole statistics for the state. The majority of data is categorized by sex, race, age, and crime of offenders. Each page of the report contains a succinct summary of the findings. Basic information one can expect to find in the report includes the different reasons for incarceration, the population of people awaiting trial, the number and length of sentences for inmates. Moreover, one can expect to find the amount of prisoners kept in the different levels of security as well as the percentage of individuals on home confinement, probation, or parole.
Major Findings
In the process of one year, the sentenced incarcerated population of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections increased by 7%; 12% male and 17% female. A majority of female offenders were sentenced with committing nonviolent crimes which included loitering for prostitution, shoplifting, and possession of cocaine. On the other hand, male offenders were primarily sentenced for committing more violent crimes primarily murder, robbery, and child molestation. As a result, males were often given much longer sentences than females. These factors remain constant over time. Of all newly sentenced offenders, approximately two-thirds get a sentence of 6 months or less. In terms of age characteristics, a majority of inmates fall between the ages of 20 and 40 years old, and those sentenced are between 30 and 39 years of age. While the majority of all sentenced inmates were White constituting half of the population, Blacks came next with at a rate of nearly 30%, followed by Hispanics with 19%, Asians at 1.1%, and American Indians at .3%. While many of the statistics demonstrate that there are more whites in each facet of prison, findings demonstrate that the percentages of people of color, primarily Black and Hispanic, are relatively high within the larger framework of the prison system. The number of offenders that were actively on probation or parole at the end of 2002 was
27, 114. A vast majority of these offenders are male, are under supervision for violent crimes, are white or black, and are between the ages of 20 and 40.
Unaddressed issues or concerns
While the report offers many important characteristics of the prison makeup as of the end of the calendar year 2002, there are still gaps and missing information in the data. The authors make a note of this in the introduction of the report. Subsequently, the statistics are not as comprehensive as they could be , i.e. racial data is not as detailed as it could be. Because the data is largely a summarization of the prison's stock population as of December 31, 2002 , the data does not demonstrate the shifts that occur in the various factors during an extended period of time making it difficult to make concrete conclusions. It is also important to note that there exists a high correlation between capitalism and incarceration that is clearly invisible in the statistics that are presented (Vogel 2003). This concept becomes extremely important when considering the annual increase in prison population. Moreover, it would be ideal if the data displayed which ethnic groups account for the total increase in prison population.
Reference List
Vogel, Richard D. "Capitalism and Incarceration Revisited" Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine, 55.4 (2003): 38-55
How to Access Report
http://www.doc.state.ri.us/divisions/admin