Jail overcrowding: An analysis of policy makers' perceptions

This paper examines how public policies are formulated and are applied to the jail overcrowding problem. Strategies of blame avoidance and subscription to myths were found to exert a strong influence on problem definition and policy design. Using an elite interview methodology, we examined the perceptions of 64 key criminal justice policy makers at local and state levels of government. We used statistical data from the California Bureau of Criminal Statistics to supplement the analysis. Policy makers identified eight major themes related to overcrowding: 1) conservative public attitudes, 2) decreased county revenues, 3) resistance to alternatives to incarceration, 4) problems in siting new jails, 5) increased crime, 6) population growth, 7) problems in interagency communication, and 8) general social malaise. Implications for policy design, outcome, and analysis are discussed.