NCJ Number
226042
Journal
Penal Issues Issue: 18 Dated: March 2008 Pages: 7-10
Date Published
March 2008
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Based on Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics from 1983 through 2005, this study examined trends in incarceration patterns in European countries.
Abstract
Although increases in prison populations are increasingly the rule in Europe, the significant variation among countries indicates the overall trend in higher incarceration rates is not produced by a uniform correctional model. Between 2000 and 2005, 18 out of 30 countries showed an average annual growth rate in incarceration that exceeded 2 percent. Some former communist countries (Romania, Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Latvia) have experienced significant decreases; however, other formerly communist countries had increases (Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Poland). For the 19 countries for which calculations could be performed, the increase in incarceration rates seemed to be fueled by an increase in the average lengths of imprisonment, since admission rates had been typically stable or declining. Over the most recent 4-year period, no country showed a combined decline or a combined increase in the average length of incarceration and in the prison admission rate. Although Belgium and Italy have shown a degree of stability in incarceration rates, the Netherlands is experiencing a dramatic increase in its prison population, linked to an increase in the number of prison admissions. France seems to be returning to such a pattern as well, following a long period of decreasing prison entries. Austria, Spain, Finland, Norway, and Poland are experiencing an increase in prison populations due exclusively to an increase in average lengths of imprisonment. This is also the case with England, but with a declining admission rate. 2 charts and 1 table