How many people should go to prison?
At one level, the answer might seem obvious: it depends how many people commit a crime attracting a prison sentence. But, in fact, the rate of incarceration varies enormously around the world.
This means that, unless human nature is very different in different countries, the key factors are the cultural propensity to commit crime and the local attitude to imprisonment.
The International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS) produces a league table of nations based on the number of prisoners per 10,000 population. Many tiny nations are at the top and bottom sections of the table because small absolute numbers can make a huge difference where there is a very small population.
But the variation in prison populations between large countries is astonishing. The United States – the land of the free – is in very top position, higher even than countries like Cuba and Russia. Towards the very bottom are India, Nigeria and Pakistan.
I live in Britain and England & Wales – where the ICPS is located – comes in at 102 out of 221 nations and territories. The figure for the USA is 716, whereas the statistic for England & Wales is 148. This means that, if I lived in America, I would be five times more likely to be imprisoned. Of course, if I was black or Hispanic that factor would be much higher.
November 13th, 2013 at 6:42 pm
More than 3000 people in the US are serving life sentences for nonviolent offenses like stealing a $159 jacket or serving as a middleman in the sale of $10 of marijuana. See A Living Death: Sentenced to Die Behind Bars for What?.