PRISON CROWDING OVER TIME - THE RELATIONSHIP OF DENSITY AND CHANGES IN DENSITY TO INFRACTION RATES

The relationship between institutional density (population divided by capacity) and institutional infractions (both violent and nonviolent) was examined for 65 different institutions (25 state prisons, 33 count y prisons, and 7 transitional centers) by month over a 10-year period. Across all institutions, there appeared to be no consistent pattern o f effects for density. Even within institutions, there was no consiste nt pattern across time. Multivariate analyses holding other factors co nstant indicated that institutional density and rate of change of pris on populations had statistically significant effects on both types of infractions, although the size of the effects was very small. Addition al analyses indicated that these effects were particularly true for pr isons for youth. Overall, the results indicated that institutional fac tors other than density were the strongest predictors of infractions.