Capital offenders in Texas prisons: rates, correlates, and an actuarial analysis of violent misconduct.
This study analyzed the records of 136 recently incarcerated capital murder offenders in the initial phase (M = 2.37 years, range = 6-40 months) of their life sentences in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Prevalence rates of institutional violence were inversely related to severity: potentially violent misconduct (36.8%), assaultive violations (14%), serious assaults (5.1%), and homicides (0%). Consistent with prior studies, factors correlated with assaultive misconduct included age (inversely), prior prison confinement, and concurrent robbery or burglary in the capital offense. A simplified Burgess scale entitled the Risk Assessment Scale for Prison-Capital (RASP-Cap) was moderately successful in identifying varying levels of improbability of committing violence-related misconduct however defined (AUC = .715-.766).
Cunningham
Mark Douglas
MD
Prairie View A&M University, Texas, USA. mdc@markdcunningham.com
Sorensen
Jon R
JR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002203:Capital Punishment; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D011330:Prisons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*