BJS FY 16 Visiting Fellows Program Criminal Justice Statistics Programs Corrections Unit

The visiting fellow will also continue his work with the Corrections Unit by completing his current work on life expectancy of state prisoners. Life expectancy estimates better inform whether the known mortality advantage of incarcerated persons (i.e. incarcerated persons have a lower mortality rate than their U.S. population counterparts) is temporary or permanent by calculating the number of person years of life gained, or lost, due to incarceration. In order to accurately calculate life expectancy of state prisoners, the visiting fellow will use data from the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) and the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (SISFCF) to create life tables. The life tables will calculate the probability of surviving to adulthood and the probability of being imprisoned and released one, two, or three or more times. Life tables will be calculated for male and female prisoners and split into groups by race-Hispanic origin and age. The life table probabilities will then be applied to the mortality rates of prisoners yielding the number of person years of life lost or gained due to imprisonment. He will also complete a paper on mortality among probation and parole populations, producing a BJS report on the topic. Finally, if the visiting fellow is unable to secure access to the DMF, the visiting fellow will continue his work with the Corrections Unit. He will segue his current work on life expectancy of state prisoners by calculating the life expectancy of persons formerly incarcerated in state prison.