BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

clear image
Home  |  About Us  |  Contact Us  |  Help  |  A-Z Topic List
 
 
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
clear image
Home | Corrections | State and federal prisoners and prison facilities | Special topics
Special topics
On This Page
About this Topic

The Corrections Unit collects data on special topics of interest for the prison inmate population through administrative records and inmate interviews (See Prison Data Sources for more information). Special topic publications focus on issues such as: female offenders, juvenile offenders, non-citizens in prison, mental health and treatment of prisoners, medical problems and treatment of prisoners, HIV/AIDS prevalence amongst the prison population, substance and treatment abuse available to prisoners, incarcerated veterans, incarcerated parents, deaths in prisons, Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), and capital punishment. 

Much of the data for these topics is collected periodically, and reports are updated as resources allow. BJS must strike a balance between researching new areas while sustaining the long-term collections and reports.

Back to Top
Data Collections & Surveys

Back to Top
Publications & Products


Data Collected Under the First Step Act, 2019 This is the first report as required under the First Step Act of 2018 (FSA, P.L. 115-391 ยง 610). It includes data on federal prisoners provided to BJS by the Federal Bureau of Prisons for calendar year 2018, which is prior to the enactment of the FSA.
  Full report (PDF 583K) | Data tables (Zip format 12K)

HIV in Prisons, 2001-2010 RATES OF HIV/AIDS AND AIDS-RELATED DEATHS IN PRISON CONTINUE TO DECLINE
  Press Release
Part of the HIV in Prisons and Jails Series

Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2009 NEARLY 1.2 MILLION FORENSIC REQUESTS TO PUBLICLY FUNDED CRIME LABS WERE BACKLOGGED AT YEAREND 2009, UNCHANGED FROM 2008
  Press Release
Part of the Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories Series

PREA Data Collection Activities, 2011 The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA; P.L. 108-79) requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to carry out, for each calendar year, a comprehensive statistical review of the incidence and effects of prison rape in randomly selected federal, state, and county correctional facilities.
  Full report (PDF 470KB) | ASCII file (14KB)
Part of the PREA Data Collection Activities Series

PREA Data Collection Activities, 2009 The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) (P.L. 108-79) requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to carry out, for each calendar year, a comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape. BJS has developed a multiple-measure, multiple-mode data collection strategy to fully implement requirements under PREA.
  Full report (PDF 388K) | ASCII file (9K)
Part of the PREA Data Collection Activities Series

Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children Presents data from the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities about inmates who were parents and their minor children.
  Press Release | Full report (PDF 175K) | ASCII file (38K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 22K)

HIV in Prisons, 2006 - Statistical Tables This web page provides the number of state and federal inmates who were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or had confirmed AIDS at yearend.
  Press Release | HTML | Full report (PDF 328K)
Part of the HIV in Prisons and Jails Series

Medical Problems of Prisoners Presents findings on state and federal prisoners who reported a current medical problem, a physical or mental impairment, a dental problem, or an injury since admission based on data from the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities.
  Press Release | HTML | Full report (PDF 355K)

Sexual Victimization in State and Federal Prisons Reported by Inmates, 2007 Presents data from the National Inmate Survey, 2007, conducted in 146 State and Federal prisons between April and August 2007, with a sample of 23,398 inmates.
  Press Release | Full report (PDF 419K) | ASCII file (42K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 39K)
Part of the PREA Data Collection Activities Series

HIV in Prisons, 2005 "HIV/AIDS cases among state and federal prison inmates fell for the sixth straight year during 2005 -- The estimated number of AIDS-related deaths continued to decline"
  Press Release | More information about this release

Back to Top
Terms & Definitions

Federal prisons Prison facilities run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Prisoners housed in these facilities are under the legal authority of the federal government. This excludes private facilities under exclusive contract with BOP.
 
Prisoners Prisoners are inmates confined in long-term facilities run by the state or federal government or private agencies. They are typically felons who have received a sentence of incarceration of 1 year or more. (Sentence length may vary by state because a few states have one integrated prison system in which both prison and jail inmates are confined in the same types of facilities.)
 
Private prisons Prison facilities run by private prison corporations whose services and beds are contracted out by state governments or the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
 
State prisons Prison facilities run by state correctional authorities. Prisoners housed in these facilities are under the legal authority of the state government and generally serving a term of more than 1 year.
 
Back to Top