Scope of Occupational Therapy in the U.S. Criminal Justice System

Abstract

This growth occurred because the number of prison admissions exceeded the number of releases from state prisons each year. However, in 2009, prison releases exceeded admissions for the first time in more than 31 years, beginning the decline in the total yearend prison population. Admissions to state and federal prisons declined by 118,900 offenders (down 16.3%) between 2009 and 2012. In 2012, the number of admissions (609,800) was the lowest since 1999, representing a 9.2% decline (down 61,800 offenders) from 2011. This report describes changes in the types of state prison admissions and releases between 1991 and 2011. Changes over time in the total yearend prison population are influenced by changes in the number of state prisoners who make up 87% of the total prison population. The report also discusses how these changes influence sex, race, Hispanic origin, offense, and sentence length distributions. The statistics in this report are based on the Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) Program, National Corrections Reporting Program, and the 1991 and 2004 surveys of state prison inmates.