Jails and Juveniles

Tennessee appeared to have an average scale of juvenile facilities within their state. In the year 2000, Tennessee reported a total of 63 total juvenile facilities where 28 of that number were public facilities and 35 of them were private. Come 2002, that number slightly decreased across the board. Overall, there were a total of 58 facilities where 26 of them were public and 32 were private. Finally in 2004, there was yet another decrease overall in the facilities, especially private facilities which faced the biggest hit. There were a total of 52 facilities where 28 of them were public and 24 of them were private. The numbers may have decreased due to the rate at which juveniles were committing crimes. Also the number may have decreased of privately owned facilities due to the court systems wanting to restrict privately owned juvenile facilities. The facilities may have decreased due to the strictness of the law, making it harder to commit crimes to be sent to one of the following facilities. These private facilities could have had any number of reasons why they closed down, even if it meant the public didn’t want the crimes committed by these juveniles kept private. (Juvenile Residential Facility Census 2004)


In the state of Tennessee in 1999 there were 108 jails and the rated capacity of the prisons was 21,572. This means there was a 91 percent occupancy rate in those jails. The number of inmates per each staff member was 3.1 and for a correctional officer it was 4.4. Even though the numbers seem pretty high and it is room to assume that Tennessee criminal population in jails was over capacity, the ratio per staff and correctional officer disproves it. First because close to 3 people per staff member is enough to keep in control and close to 5 people per correctional officer is a good amount to keep under control and know everyone’s where about. Second, that means that each officer and staff is assigned enough work on their hand but not too much where it can get out of hand. Third, Even if the jails are at a 91 percent capacity rate there is still plenty of room left for new inmates and when it reaches to about 98 percent capacity and 7 and up inmates per staff and officers that is when it would be over capacity( U.S. Department of Justice 2001)

In Tennessee, the male prison population in 2000 was 20,797. In 2006 it jumped to 23,787 and then to 24.344 in 2007. The percentage change from 2000-2006 was 2.3% and then again in 2007. The woman prison population in Tennessee was 1,369 in 2000, 1,958 in 2006, and 1,923 in 2007. From 2000 to 2006 there was a 6.1% increase in the population while it dropped by -1.8% by 2007.
Reasons why male prison populations would increase is the availability of the crime, it becomes easier to commit crimes with the advances in technology. As the Tennessee population itself grows, so would the number of criminals to reciprocate the proportions. As well as young males being desensitized to violence by public wrestling and other highly violent activity being portrayed in the media. The woman prison population can also be explained by advances in technology and increases in population. The decrease, however, may be explained by it being more socially acceptable now to be a working woman. Having a career that one values would prevent someone from committing a crime in need of money. (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2007)

Sources:
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juvenile
Residential Facility Census, 2000: Selected Findings, p. 2; 2002: Selected Findings, p. 2; 2004: Selected
Findings, p. 2, Juvenile Offenders and Victims National Report Series (Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of Justice). Table adapted by SOURCEBOOK staff.

U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of Jails, 1999,
NCJ 186633 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2001), pp. 14, 28. Table
adapted by SOURCEBOOK staff.
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2003, page 91

West, Heater C. & Sabol, William J. National Prison Statistics (2007)

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