NCJ Number
154091
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 75 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1995) Pages: 113-123
Date Published
1995
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article summarizes the results of a 52-nation survey on the international use of incarceration.
Abstract
Because of the rise of organized crime, political instability, and the transition to a capitalist economy, Russia now leads the world in its incarceration rate of 558 citizens per 100,000 population. The U.S. rate of incarceration is the world's second highest at 519 per 100,000 population, an increase of 22 percent since 1989. Blacks in the U.S. are incarcerated at a rate more than six times that of whites; the number of black males housed in U.S. correctional facilities is higher than the number of black males enrolled in institutions of higher education. Drug, property, and public order offenders constitute 84 percent of the 155 percent increase in new court commitments to State prison from 1980 to 1992, whereas violent offenders account for 16 percent of the increase. 4 tables, 1 figure, 2 notes, and 11 references