Improving correctional classification, New York, 1981-1983

There were three specific goals of this research. The first was to evaluate three procedures currently available for the classification of correctional inmates: the Risk Analysis method, Megargee's MMPI Typology, and Toch's Prison Preference Inventory. Second, the research devised and tested a postdictive model of adjustment to prison life. Third, a new classification scheme was developed for predicting inmate adjustment to prison life that considers individual and organizational (contextual) level factors and various interactions between the two. These data were collected from a sample of 942 volunteer inmates from ten New York state correctional facilities, five of which were maximum security and five of which were medium security facilities. Only one-half of the original 942 inmates completed the MMPI. Background and questionnaire data were collected during the summer and fall of 1983. Outcome data on each inmate infraction were collected for a three-year period prior to that time. Each case in the first file represents survey response data from an individual inmate. Of the 172 variables, 56 are from the Prison Preference Questionnaire (PPQ), 86 are from the Prison Environment Inventory (PEI), and the remaining 30 are from the Prison Adjustment Questionnaire (PAQ).

Cases in the second file are records of medical contacts and diagnoses of inmates' illnesses. In the third file, cases are personality assessment information and scores for each individual offender. Data in the fourth file consist of 54 individual-based variables covering inmates' background characteristics. The fifth file contains records of offenses and disciplinary action by individual offender. The client number is unique and consistent across all data files.