NCJ Number
137462
Date Published
1991
Length
187 pages
Annotation
Variations in rates of imprisonment in countries with similar socioeconomic countries are analyzed with emphasis on the way in which different countries and different groups define crime and the ideology that underlies current crime policy and criminological thought.
Abstract
The discussion emphasizes that variations in the use of prison are minimally asociated with crime and show few correlations with any other criminological data. However, it is possible to predict incarceration rates quite closely from certain economic data, particularly the extremes of wealth and poverty: incarceration rates are highest where wealth is most concentrated in a small percentage of the population. In addition, much criminal justice policy is based on incorrect assumptions and emphasizes simplistic approaches, particularly with regard to drug abuse. In contrast to the just deserts approach which focuses totally on past actions and ignores probable futures, social policy and criminal justice policy should be concerned with probable futures. Groups urging reform should therefore try to convince opinion leaders that penal sanctions should be structured the same as health, welfare, and educational services and that punishment should no longer be considered an infinite resource. They should also try to prevent public officials from supporting the popular myth that more punishment means less crime. Chapter notes and index