Assessing risks among California's prisoners
Since 2006, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has conducted psychological assessments on convicts as they enter the prison system. The state uses inmates' answers to measure their level of criminal thinking and their need for substance abuse treatment and education. This interactive includes more than 49,000 inmates in California's prisons as of March 31. Inmates are grouped by their "principal offense," the conviction that resulted in their prison sentence.
The circles show the percentage of inmates convicted of each type of crime who received scores indicating "high risk" in each category.
Addiction is by far the most common problem documented for California's prisoners, with 48 percent of those assessed scoring high risk for substance abuse.
| Pct. high risk, substance abuse | Pct. high risk, criminal thinking | Pct. high risk, vocational/ education | Avg. Age | Gender | Ethnicity | |
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| Inmates convicted of violent crimes | ||||||
| Homicide |
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| Manslaughter |
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| Sexual assault |
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| Assault |
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| Robbery |
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| Weapons |
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| Inmates convicted of property crimes | ||||||
| Burglary |
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| Theft |
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| Motor vehicle theft |
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| Forgery, check and access cards |
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| Arson |
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| Vandalism |
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| Inmates convicted of controlled substances crimes | ||||||
| Narcotic/dangerous drug |
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| Marijuana |
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| All other drugs |
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| Inmates convicted of other crimes | ||||||
| Other sexual crimes |
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| Driving under the influence |
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| Kidnapping |
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| Hit and run |
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| Escape |
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| Other |
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Sources: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS); analysis by California Watch and the San Francisco Chronicle
Credits: Interactive by Michael Corey and Coulter Jones. Reporting by Ryan Gabrielson.
Data API: You can use the data from this interactive to build your own applications.