Comparative Criminal Justice Systems

1
Comparative Criminal Justice Systems

• The Sentencing Process
• Custodial Sanctions - Imprisonment
• Reichel / Albanese

2
Imprisonment

• Essentially all countries use imprisonment
  (deprivation of liberty)
• as a sentence type, but there is extreme
  variation in its use.
• For example, Venezuela uses custodial sentences
  almost exclusively, Finland uses them very
  seldom.
• Deprivation of liberty any period of
  incarceration short of life imprisonment.
• 8.75 million people are held in penal
  institutions throughout the world (either
  pretrial or convicted and sentence criminals).
  About half of them in China, Russia, or the
  United States.
• The country with the highest prison population
  rate is the United States (715/100,000). In
  contrast, the median number of inmates per
  100,000 is about 130.

3
Question

• Imprisonment is often considered the
• severest penalty inflicted in most societies.
• Do you feel this is the case? Explain.
• What is the purpose of imprisonment?

4
Limits of Prison Data

• Definition problems what counts as a prison and
  what counts as a prisoner.
• Adult and juvenile prisoner populations.
• Stock design (data obtained from one period in
  time) versus flow design (prison admissions over
  time).
• Penal populism (policies grounded in the public
  appetite for punitiveness with little concern
  about effectiveness) versus penal policies
  (polices grounded in justice and sentencing
  research). U.S. examples of penal populism
  include truth-in-sentencing, sentencing
  guidelines, three-strikes-and-youre out, and
  mandatory sentencing.

5
Countries in Contrast

• France Over 38 of inmates in French prisons
  are remand inmates (unconvicted or serving less
  than a one-year sentence). Some detainees are
  kept in jail for several years while their cases
  are investigated by examining magistrates.
• Germany Prisons are known for their extensive
  use of rehabilitation programs unique
  environmental conditions, extensive work and
  training opportunities, and community integration
  programs.
• China Reform through labor and thought reform.
  The primary purpose of labor is to augment the
  education and reform process (plus add to the
  countrys economic growth). Thought reform has
  inmates confess their wrongdoing and construct a
  new self-image that fits with the beliefs of the
  Socialist agenda.

6
Countries in Contrast(contd)

• Japan Japanese prisons are a symptom of failure,
  and being a prisoner is a disgrace for both the
  inmates and their families. The Japanese believe
  that the tough methods used in prisons are
  necessary for a safer society, i.e., isolation
  and physical restraint. These methods are
  believed to break down a prisoners resistance
  and force him to acknowledge guilt and remorse.
  The goal is to mold him into a peaceful, obedient
  member of society. (Rehabilitation)
• Saudi Arabia Prison is not the conventional
  sentencing recourse because of corporal
  punishment. Lack of available information makes
  it difficult to assess the kind and quality of
  correctional facilities. Saudi correctional
  theory implies that written rules to regulate the
  prison system are unnecessary because the rights
  of prisoners are guaranteed according to Muslim
  law (Sharia).
• Poland The primary goals of imprisonment are
  rehabilitation of prisoners and their restoration
  to society. The basic means to achieve these
  goals are through activities related to work,
  education, and cultural endeavors.

7
Prison Populations Major Issues

• Women in prison
• Racial and ethnic minorities in prison
• Prison crowding

8
Question

• Do low numbers of women prisoner populations
  create
• an atmosphere for poor conditions
• and geographic dislocation of womens facilities?
  
• In most of the worlds countries, new mothers are
  allowed
• to keep their infants with them in prison
• should the United States adopt such a policy?
  Why?
• Would mixed-gender facilities
• such as in Sweden work in the U.S.? If so, why?

9
Racial and Ethnic MinoritiesDisparity Around the
World

• Major issue many countries do not keep
  statistics on racial and ethnic minorities.
• The general consensus is that foreign prisoners
  and racial/ethnic minorities are
  disproportionately represented in prisons around
  the world.
• Examples of ethnic minority populations Canada
  Aboriginals 3 of general population / 16 of
  prison population Hungary Gypsies 5-8 of
  general population / 40 of prison population.
• Examples of foreigner prisoner populations
  Switzerland (60 foreign) Luxembourg (60)
  Greece (48) and Belgium (40).
• Countries with possible institutionalized racism
  South Africa Blacks Austria Turks Japan
  Koreans Sweden Finns the Netherlands
  Moroccans United States Latinos, African
  Americans, and Native Americans.

10
Prison Crowding

• Most countries are at or close to 100 percent
  capacity.
• Examples England and Wales (112) Japan
  (106.5) Finland (107.1) and the United States
  (106). Uganda (186.4), Madagascar (169.2), and
  Hungary (147.7) are the world leaders in
  occupancy rates.
• Low prison population rates (stock design) do not
  necessarily explain high overcrowding rates.

11
Solutions to Prison Overcrowding

• Which of the following provide
• an optimal solution to prison overcrowding?
• What are some advantages or disadvantages?
• Amnesty
• Building prisons
• Privatization
• Shorter sentences and/or Alternative sanctions