NCJ Number
148617
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1993) Pages: 639-660
Date Published
1993
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Data from Australia, Canada, England and Wales, the Untied States, and the Federal Republic of Germany were compared to determine the accuracy of the contention that time served in the United States is longer than in other countries.
Abstract
Cross-national comparisons of prison use have contributed to the common view that the United States is the most punitive of industrialized democracies. However, studies of the prevalence have revealed that differences in prison use between the United States and other countries disappear when the level of crime is held constant. The current research used data from various years in the 1980's. Results revealed that when the type of crime is held constant and the United States jail population is included, the time served in the United States is similar to that in other industrialized democracies for violent crime. However, differences persist for property crimes. Tables, footnotes, appended lists of charges, and 22 references (Author abstract modified)