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Punitiveness in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977-2004. Natasha A. Frost Northeastern University. Previous Research. Extensive previous research on the growth in imprisonment over the past several decades. Substantial previous research on state level variations in imprisonment.
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Punitiveness in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977-2004 Natasha A. Frost Northeastern University
Previous Research • Extensive previous research on the growth in imprisonment over the past several decades. • Substantial previous research on state level variations in imprisonment. • Very few studies have parsed the growth in imprisonment by gender.
Purpose of the Punitiveness Project • Document growth in the imprisonment of female offenders by state and over time (Punitiveness Phase I). • http://www.wpaonline.org/institute/hardhit/index.htm • Explore state level variations in punitiveness toward female offenders using both imprisonment rates and the dual determinants of those rates (Punitiveness Phase II).
Phase One • Compile state level imprisonment data in every year between 1977 and 2004 on the following measures: • Prisoners serving sentences of more than one year • Imprisonment rates and admission rates • Gender ratios
What do imprisonment rates tell us? • Explaining Prison Population Growth (Greenberg & West, 2001) • Imprisonment rates ultimately a function of admissions and length of stay. • Dual Determinants: • Imprisonment Risk and Length of Stay • Parsing Prison Population Growth (Blumstein & Beck, 1999; 2005; Frost, 2006).
Phase II: The Dual Determinants • Phase Two: Gendered Analysis of Imprisonment Risk and Time-Served Over Time and Across Offense Types. • Imprisonment Risk: “Propensity” to imprison • Probability that an adult arrest will result in an imprisonment of greater than one year • Length of Stay: “Intensity” in Imprisonment • Actual time-served of release cohorts
Descriptives: Imprisonment Risk and Length of Stay 2002 Imprisonment Risk 2002 Time Served Overall: 11.2 admissions Overall: 18.9 months Violent: 8.4 Violent: 34.5 Property: 5.1 Property: 15.7 Drug: 6.5 Drug: 16.3 1997 Imprisonment Risk 1997 Time Served Overall: 6.5 admissions Overall: 18.7 months Violent: 4.8 Violent: 31.8 Property: 2.9 Property: 16.4 Drug: 5.9 Drug: 17.1 Change 1983-2002: 366 % Change 1983-2002: 17 % Change 1997-2002: 72 % Change 1997-2002: 1%
Imprisonment Risk, 1997-2002 Violent, Property, & Drug Offenses
Length of Stay, 1997-2002 Violent, Property, & Drug Offenses
Future Phases in the Punitiveness Project • Individual State Reports • Imprisonment Rates, Imprisonment Risk, and Length of Stay • Across Offense Types and Over Time • Underlying Trends (Arrests and Admissions) • Legislative Changes and State Initiatives • Gender and Race Analyses • Detailed Offense Type Analyses • Underlying Violent, Property, and Drug Offenses