There is probably much more crime inside jails and prisons than officials report, according to a study in the journal Justice Quarterly.
Researchers for the study compared survey data from inmates housed in 46 facilities in Ohio and Kentucky with official data on those inmates.
Self-reported and officially recorded rates for some low-level crimes were similar, while officially recorded rates for certain serious crimes were way off, researchers found.
“The level of officially detected assaults was 80 percent lower than the proportion of inmates who self-reported committing an assault,” researchers wrote.
“However, the level of officially detected thefts was identical to the level of self-reported thefts.”
The full study is available for purchase HERE.