NCJ Number
178016
Date Published
1998
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This chapter compares American and Japanese imprisonment rates and considers the effects of low and declining rates.
Abstract
The rapid escalation of the prison population in the United States has aggravated the always formidable difficulties of prison administration. Overcrowding affects the physical and psychological well-being of inmates and appears to lead to more violence through destabilization of inmate social networks. On the other hand, reluctant use of imprisonment has enabled Japan to avoid the crisis of overburdened prisons and its effects. Prison environments are havens of tranquility, and inmates are remarkably submissive to their keepers--far less inclined to mount subcultural opposition to prison staffs and official goals. The reluctant resort to imprisonment is an expression of Japanese values, generally, and specifically in the policies of the procuracy and judiciary. While the substantial growth in American prison populations has stimulated the construction of many new prisons, the decreasing prison population in Japan has had little effect on available “bed-space.” Tables, notes