Research Clearinghouse:
Beyond producing original research, the Prison Policy Initiative edits several databases to empower activists, journalists, and policymakers to shape effective criminal justice policy. This page contains links to virtually all the empirical criminal justice research available online, organized by category and publication date. If you know what you are looking for, you may also search the database. We also have an email newsletter (at right) for new research clearinghouse updates.
- Civil Rights (185) Racial and other disparities
- Community Impact (124) Impact of the justice system on communities, includes housing, employment
- Crime and Crime Rates (309) Information on type of crime/frequency
- Data Collection (78) A meta analysis of data collection systems
- Death Penalty (139) Data, policy, and analysis of the death penalty
- Drug Policy (141) Analysis of drug policy and its effects on the prison system
- Education (69) Correctional education and the school-to-prison pipeline
- Families (77) The justice system's impact on families.
- Felon Disenfranchisement (81) Barring people from the polls because of criminal convictions
- General (12) Atlases, indices, and broad-based source material
- Gun Control (44) Statistics on gun violence, suggestions for gun control
- Immigration Detainees (37) Immigration detainment practices and statistics
- Incarceration Rates Growth Causes (386)
- International Incarceration Comparisons (46)
- Jails (141) Information and data on jails
- Juveniles (337) Juvenile justice and the prison system’s effect on kids
- Mental Health (84) Policy and practice of mental health
- Police and Policing Practices (121) Includes Stop and Frisk and other practices
- Pretrial Detention (43) Exploring cost and outcome of detaining people before trial or deportation (ie. instead of bail or other alternatives)
- Prison Gerrymandering (33) Research on prison-based gerrymandering (see also www.prisonersofthecensus.org)
- Prison Privatization (50)
- Prison Procedures (69)
- Prison Programs (42) Programming available for incarcerated populations
- Prison and The Economy (179) The economic drivers and consequences of mass incarceration
- Prisoner Labor (9) Work done in prison by incarcerated populations
- Prisoner Welfare (196) Wellbeing of incarcerated population: policies and statistics
- Public Opinion (51)
- Recidivism and Reentry (208) What makes people more or less likely to succeed upon release?
- Sentencing Policy (146) Relating to sentencing policy.
- Trials (134) Statistics about the court system and its processes
- Women (86) Impact of the justice system on women
Can't find what you are looking for?
Enter one word from the title, author or topic to search the clearinghouse:
Some of the most recently added reports are:
Tuesday, August 15 2017:
- Assessing the use of Law Enforcement by Youth Residential Service Providers [PDF] Disability Rights Maine. August, 2017.
Thursday, August 10 2017:
- Just Kids: When Misbehaving Is a Crime, [Website] VERA. August, 2017.
Tuesday, August 8 2017:
- Juvenile Life Without Parole: An Overview, [Website] The Sentencing Project. August, 2017.
Monday, August 7 2017:
- Testing The Impact of Criminal Jury Instructions on Verdicts: A Conceptual Replication, [PDF] Columbia Law Review. March, 2017.
Friday, August 4 2017:
- Impact of opioid substitution therapy on mortality postrelease from prison: retrospective data linkage study, [PDF] National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. February, 2014.
Recommended Reading:
Prison Gerrymandering Project
We are leading the movement to protect our democracy from the Census Bureau's prison miscount.
Legal Resources for Incarcerated People
The internet's first always-up-to-date list of organizations that provide legal services and resources for incarcerated people, organized by state.
Tracking State Prison Growth in 50 States
State-by-state briefing on prison growth (and occassional contraction) from 1978 to 2012
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