CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISONS OF IMPRISONMENT (FROM CRIME AND JUSTICE: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH, P 1-49, 1993, MICHAEL TONRY, ED. -- SEE NCJ-146350)

• NCJ Number: 146351
• Author(s): W Young; M Brown
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 49 pages
• Sale Source: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Crime and Justice Volume 17

Annotation

This essay identified major trends in the cross-national use of imprisonment and identifies some factors associated with those trends. Data are drawn from United Nations sources, Council of Europe publications, and a cross-national study focusing on England and Wales, Scotland, France, West Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, conducted between 1968 to 1987.

Abstract

The first section outlines differences in prison rates between the seven jurisdictions and changes in those rates. Some of the methodological difficulties in interpreting the rates are discussed. The authors examine the extent to which variations in the use of incarceration can be attributed to differences in the nature and seriousness of offending in the countries included in the study. The concluding section explores the significance of cross-jurisdictional differences in prison rates, suggesting that they are driven by punishment practices that are cultural, rather than political or economic. 4 tables, 3 figures, and 80 references