Justice Under Pressure: A Comparison Of Recidivism Patterns Among Four Successive Parolee Cohorts (research In Criminology)

**Justice Under Pressure** analyzes the effects of prison crowding on the justice system. The authors focus on dramatic changes in the administration of criminal justice in Texas during the 1980s and the influence of those changes on the three-year survival rates among parolees released between 1984 and 1987. Setting out to identify differences in recidivism and the crime rate as a result of the changes instituted in Texas, the authors report the findings of their comparative "survival analysis" of 4 successive cohorts of parolees, plus a chapter specifically directed at a comparative analysis of an emergency release cohort. The final chapter compares prison construction policies and crime rate trends in Texas and California to highlight the major policy implications of the findings. This book is of particular interest to criminologists, forensic psychologists, forensic psychiatrists, and students in these fields. Front Matter....Pages i-x National Trends and the Assessment of Prison Crowding....Pages 1-12 Population, Political, and Judicial Pressures on the Texas Criminal Justice System....Pages 13-29 Intra-Cohort Variation in Reincarceration....Pages 30-51 Inter-Cohort Comparisons of Reincarceration Rates....Pages 52-66 Multivariate Prediction of Reincarceration....Pages 67-84 An Evaluation of the Legislative Response: The Prison Management Act....Pages 85-104 Incarceration and Crime: Is There a Link?....Pages 105-119 Conclusions and Policy Implications....Pages 120-129 Back Matter....Pages 130-142