NCJ Number
141932
Date Published
1992
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study concludes that there is a link between economic policies and criminal justice policies in the countries of Western Europe where there are comparable data.
Abstract
The analysis found no link between the crime rate and the incarceration rate in the countries examined. The highest correlation found was between the incarceration rate (persons in prison per 100,000 population) and the proportion of income going to the upper 5 percent; where the wealthy were extremely wealthy, the incarceration rate was higher. Put in economic terms, in countries where it seemed necessary to reward top people with very high differentials, it also seemed necessary to punish the serious offender with greater severity. Persons who favor the strong use of punishment, synonymous with incarceration, tend to impose a simplistic two-value logic of right and wrong on human behavior, such that the complexity and diversity of human behavior is ignored. Based on this theory, the author concludes that the concentration of power (typically associated with wealth) leads to a two-value extremism. A chart lists the characteristics of an extremism that overuses incarceration and indicates how each characteristic of extremism should shift to provide for a more effective humane strategy that acknowledges the complexities of human behavior and its management.