Extra Credit: STATS AND SUCH SOCI 388

DUE: NO LATER THAN Tuesday, April 6
POINTS: Up to 20

Answer the following:

Take a look at the IDOC DATA
 
1) Rank sentences in order (Murder, Class 4, Class 1, Class 3, Class 2,
Class X)

2) Which is longer: prison stay or length of stay?

3) What effect has determinate sentencing had on the prison
population?

4) What effect does SMGT and IIP have on time served?

5) Which judicial circuit is DeKalb County in and why would this have
any significance?

6) Does Illinois have more prisoners currently serving time for violent
crimes or drug crimes?
 
Now:

Answer these three questions that suggest why we have to be careful
in examing statistics:

1) IDOC reports that roughly 75 percent of prisoners will be back in
the streets in less than 40 months. Yet, the average prison stay of
prisoners exiting prison is barely a year. Is this contradictory?

2) The prison population in Illinois and the U.S. is dramatically 
increasing. Yet, the crime rate is decreasing. What STATISTICAL
(rather than SOCIAL) factors might help account for part of this
seeming inconsistency?

3) When trying to figure out how long prisoners stay in prison, how does
using "prisoners who exit the prison" or using "prisoners currently in
prison" affect our statistics?

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