THE NEW-ORLEANS INMATE SURVEY - A TEST OF GREENWOODS PREDICTIVE SCALE

Analysis of face‐to‐face interviews with 200 male inmates incarcerated in New Orleans, using a modified version of the Rand instrument used in California, Michigan, and Texas, showed the same highly skewed offense‐rate distribution but generally lower median offense frequencies. These lower rates are attributed to an improved instrument and method of administration and to Louisiana's much higher incarceration rate. A search for a prediction model for the New Orleans inmate offense rates yielded the same seven‐variable model developed by the Rand researchers and the same predictive efficiency as well. The results suggest the generalizability of the seven‐item scale, at least to the prediction of inmates' self‐reported offense rates. Copyright © 1991, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved