nt of inmates (Alternatives, 1998, May, p. 1881). Women, many incarcerated on drug charges, accounted for 7.3 percent of all inmates, compared with 5.5 percent in 1985, an absolute increase of 423,000 (Alternatives, 1998, May, pp. 1881 and 1927). According to Lacayo (1987, 2 February), "perhaps half of the inmate population need not be incarcerated at all" (p. 60).
The rise in the prison population overwhelmed the probation system. The numbers of convicted persons on probation rose from 700,000 in 1985 to 3.1 million in 1995 (Alternatives, 1998, May, p. 1890). Prior to 1950, probation had been available mostly for misdemeanants; but Koehler (1992, September) says that "in the last two decades, . . . we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of felons placed under supervision, including those who commit violent crimes" (p. 14).
For many convicted of offenses, such as drunk driving and petty crimes against property, alternative forms of punishment which do not involve any form of incarceration or detention, such a
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