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Massachusetts
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IMPRISONMENT
AT A GLANCE
Imprisonment
Rate 1977: 48 (47th) Female Imprisonment Rate 1977:
3 (47th)
Imprisonment Rate 2004: 232 (44th) Female Imprisonment
Rate 2004: 11 (49th)
Total
Female Sentenced Prisoners 1977: 78
Total Female Sentenced Prisoners 2004: 376
Percent
Increase 1977-2004: 382%
Average Annual Percent Increase 1977-2004: 9%
Percent Decrease 1999-2004: 9%
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IMPRISONMENT
IN MASSACHUSETTS
At
year-end 2004, Massachusetts' prisons housed 8,688 inmates
serving sentences of more than one year. Of these inmates,
8,312 were male and 376 were female. Massachusetts ranked
49th in its 2004 female imprisonment rate with 11 female prisoners
per 100,000 female residents, and 44th in its 2004 overall
imprisonment rate with 232 prisoners per 100,000 residents.
In
1977, Massachusetts' prisons housed 78 female inmates; by
2004, the female prison population had reached 376. Massachusetts'
female prison population was at its lowest with 47 female
prisoners in 1979 and peaked at 461 female inmates in 1996.
GROWTH
IN FEMALE IMPRISONMENT RATE
Between
1977 and 2004, Massachusetts' female prison population grew
by 382% with an average annual percent change of 8.7% per
year.
Throughout
the period from 1977 to 2004, Massachusetts' overall and female
imprisonment rates were substantially lower than the average
imprisonment rates across the states. With a female imprisonment
rate of 11 female prisoners per 100,000 female residents,
Massachusetts is among the 10 least punitive states in its
imprisonment of female offenders (ranked 49th).
MALE
TO FEMALE IMPRISONMENT RATIO
The
male to female imprisonment ratio indicates the number of
male inmates for every female inmate. Although both female
and male imprisonment rates have increased over the period
of study, a shrinking ratio suggests that the number of female
prisoners has increased at a faster pace. In 1977, across
the states, there was an average of 36 male prisoners for
every female prisoner; by 2004, this ratio had fallen to 13
male prisoners for every female prisoner. Massachusetts' 1977
ratio was notably higher than average with 35 male prisoners
for every female prisoner. In 2004, Massachusetts' male to
female imprisonment ratio (22:1) remained notably higher than
the average across states.
CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES
According
to the 2000 Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities,
Massachusetts has 25 correctional facilities. Of Massachusetts'
25 correctional facilities, 19 house male prisoners only,
four house female prisoners only, and two house both male
and female prisoners.
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