World map showing number of prisoners per 100,000 citizens. ^[1]

Incarceration is the detention of a person in jail or prison. Jail, or gaol (especially in Canada, Australia and NZ[http //www A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment Incarceration rates, when measured by the United Nations, are considered distinct and separate from the imprisonment of political prisoners and others not charged with a specific crime. A political prisoner is someone held in Prison or otherwise detained perhaps under House arrest, for his or her involvement in political activity Historically, the frequency of imprisonment, its duration, and severity have varied considerably. There has also been much debate about the motives for incarceration, its effectiveness and fairness, as well as debate regarding the related questions about the nature and etiology of criminal behavior. Etiology (alternatively aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment

Punishment vs. Rehabilitation

The above mentioned opinions often inform debates about the goal of incarceration: should the emphasis be on punishment or rehabilitation? Arguments have been made on both sides of the issues, and larger societal perspectives have shifted from one side to the other over the years. Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal usually in response to disobedient or morally wrong behavior Rehabilitation means To restore to useful life as through therapy and education or To restore to good condition operation or capacity.

Those who favor punishment often contend that the practice serves both as revenge for the wronged and as a deterrent against further crime. Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal usually in response to disobedient or morally wrong behavior Revenge (also vengeance, retribution, or vendetta amongst others consists primarily of retaliation against a person or group in response On the other hand, those who favor rehabilitation argue that by trying to change a criminal's behavior, recidivism rates can be reduced, and both the criminal and society can benefit from improvement. Recidivism ( IPA: /ɹɪˈsɪdɪvɪzm̩/ From recidive + ism, from Latin recidīvus "recurring" from re-

Justice studies

The index of the unequal distribution of wealth and the index of family disintegration, the best predictors of incarceration rates.

Penology and justice studies emphasize description and analysis of antecedents of criminal behavior and outcomes of consequences imposed by criminal justice on the criminal behavior. Penology (from the Latin poena, " Punishment " comprises Penitentiary Science: that concerned with the processes devised An example of a modern quantitative study of factors influencing the criminal behavior is the study by Krus and Hoehl (1994).

In the study by Krus and Hoehl, variables that might explain differences in incarceration rates among populations were located by a computer-aided search of the compendium of world rankings, compiled by the Facts on File Corporation and the World Model Group, containing over 50,000 records on more than 200 countries.

They argued that predictor variables explained about 69% of variance in the international incarceration rates. Cited as especially important were unequal distribution of wealth (the explanation perhaps favored by liberals) and family disintegration (the explanation perhaps favored by conservatives). Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined According to Krus and Hoehl, these variables act in concert: the presence of one variable does not always precipitate crime, but the presence of both variables often does precipitate crime.

Incarceration rates by country

The stats source is the World Prison Population List (7th edition). Prisoners per 100,000 population. ^[2][3][4]

The United States' incarceration rate is the highest in the world, at 737 persons imprisoned per 100,000^[5]. Prisons in the United States are operated under strict authority of both the federal and state governments as Incarceration is a Concurrent power A report released 2/28/08 indicates that in the United States more than 1 in 100 adults is now confined in an American jail or prison. ^[6] The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population. [2]

In 2006 the incarceration rate in England and Wales is 139 persons imprisoned per 100,000 residents, while in Norway it is 59 inmates per 100,000, whilst the Australian imprisonment rate is 163 prisoners per 100,000 residents, and the rate of imprisonment in New Zealand last year was 179 per 100,000. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional

In 2001 the incarceration rate in China was 111 per 100,000 in 2001 (sentenced prisoners only), although this figure is highly disputed. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Chinese human rights activist Harry Wu, who spent 19 years in forced-labor camps for criticizing the government, estimates that 16 to 20 million of his countrymen are incarcerated, including common criminals, political prisoners, and people in involuntary job placements. Harry Wu (born 1937; Chinese: 吳弘達 Wu Hongda) is an activist for Human rights in the People's Republic of China. Even ten million prisoners would mean a rate of 793 per 100,000. ^[7]

Ireland has the lowest prison population with 3417 prisoners incarcerated. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Ireland has relatively low crime rates and those rates continue to fall. Ireland received 101 reports of homicide in 2003. List of countries by homicide rate Homicide ( Latin homicidium, homo human being + caedere to cut kill refers to the act of killing another Also reported were 4763 cases of assault and 2463 sexual offences. ^[8]

Denmark also has low incarceration rate with a total of 3774 inmates in the country. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe ^[9] Denmark has 59 people in prison for every 100,000 citizens. ^[9] 62 violent crimes such as rape, murder, robbery, and aggravated assault were reported. Assault is a Crime of Violence against another person. In some Jurisdictions including Australia and New Zealand, There were 322 Property Crimes reported.

India has the lowest incarceration rates with only 281,000 prisoners in their jails. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country ^[9] This is just a fraction of their total population, 1,129,866,154. ^[9] India reported 1,764,630 crimes in 2007. ^[9] There were 236,313 assaults and 111,296 burglaries. ^[10]

In many countries, it is common for prisoners to be paroled after serving as little as one third of their sentences. In the U. S. , most states strictly limit parole, requiring that at least half of a sentence be served. For certain heinous crimes, there is no parole and the full sentence must be served.

Duration of incarceration

Main article: Sentence (law)

Trends in criminal sentencing in the United States include a move toward determinate as opposed to indeterminate sentencing. In Law, a sentence forms the final act of a Judge -ruled process and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function In the United States a Judge sentences a person convicted of a crime

Conditions of incarceration

Severe punishments (such as beatings, prolonged sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, chaining) have been often inflicted on prisoners. There are many reasons given for justification of such punishment. In the 16th century, the Bishop of Trier, Binsfeld, in his Tractatus de Confessionibus Maleficorum (1596) claimed that

since the sinfulness of the world increases, God also allows increasing the severity of punishments. The Archbishopric of Trier (Erzbistum Trier was a Roman Catholic Diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the Peter Binsfeld (alternate spelling Peter Binsfield, lat Petrus Binsfeldius) (c

A movement to abolish cruel treatment of prisoners began during the Age of Enlightenment and continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century However, there have been continual arguments for severe punishments, perhaps increasing somewhat in the early years of the 21st century. Contemporary justifications for such punishment often revolve around the "rights of the victims". Often underlying these perspectives are opinions that stress the vindictive eye-for-the-eye notions of the Old Testament and Qur'an ^[11], over the notion that the primary goal of incarceration should be the reform and reeducation of prisoners to facilitate their re-integration into society. In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon.

Within the framework of penology, the trend toward increasing the severity of punishments is reflected in publications such as Block's (1997, p. Penology (from the Latin poena, " Punishment " comprises Penitentiary Science: that concerned with the processes devised 12) advocacy of policy initiatives aimed at increasing the unpleasantness of prison life that would likely be "a cost-effective method of fighting crime” and Arpaio and Sherman's 1996 book claiming that the increase in the severity of treatment of prisoners will result in decrease in recidivism. Joseph M Arpaio (born June 14, 1932 in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States) is a law enforcement officer and the Sheriff Recidivism ( IPA: /ɹɪˈsɪdɪvɪzm̩/ From recidive + ism, from Latin recidīvus "recurring" from re- ^[12] Arpaio and Sherman proposed to increase the severity of imprisonment by the construction of tent prison camps in the Mojave Desert where summer temperatures reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit, by serving prisoners foul-tasting food, by humiliating prisoners by cross-dressing, and by reinstatement of the chain gangs. For the indigenous American tribe see Mohave. The Mojave Desert (moʊˈhɑːvi or /məˈhɑːvi/ ( Hayikwiir Mat'aar in Mojave A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging labor, such as chipping stone often along a highway or rail bed Mauer (1999, pp. 92-93) documents some other the measures used to implement the increasing the unpleasantness of prison life policies that include shooting around prisoners to keep them moving, forced consumption of milk of magnesia, placing naked inmates in strip cells, and handcuffing inmates for long periods of time.

Incarceration and torture

As noted above, cruel treatment has long been a feature of incarceration. Taken to extremes, such treatment might be described as torture. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally

Torture has, for much of history, been seen as a tolerable or even necessary component of imprisonment, whether performed as punishment or as part of interrogation. Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal usually in response to disobedient or morally wrong behavior Interrogation or questioning is Interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the Police and Military. Recent controversial cases described by critics as torture of incarcerated persons include the Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba scandal. Beginning in 2004 accounts of Abuse, Torture, Sodomy and Homicide of Prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Camp X-Ray was a temporary detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp of Joint Task Force Guantanamo on the U

Please see the main torture page for further information. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally

References

• ABC News/Washington Post poll (2004). Conducted by TNS of Horsham, Pa, on a random national sample of 1,005 adults with a three-point error margin.
• Arpaio, J. Joseph M Arpaio (born June 14, 1932 in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States) is a law enforcement officer and the Sheriff and Sherman, L. (1996) How to win the war against crime. Arlington: The Summit Publishing Group.
• Binsfeld, P. (1596) Tractatus de confessionibus maleficorum et sagarum. Trier, Germany: Heinrich Bock.
• Block, M. K. (1997) Supply side imprisonment policy. Washington: National Institute of Justice.
• Beccaria, C. (1764) An essay on crimes and punishments. Beccaria redirects here This article is about the philosopher and politician New York: Gould & Van Winkle, 1809.
• Daneau, L. (1564) Les Sorciers, dialogue très utile et très necessaire pour ce temps. In Levack, B. (1992) The literature of witchcraft: articles on witchcraft, magic, and demonology. Garland. ISBN 0-8153-1026-9.
• Geiler, J. (1508) Die Emeis. Strassburg: Johann Grüninger.
• Kurian, G. T. (1991) The New Book of World Rankings. New York: Facts on File, Inc.
• Krus, D. J. (1999) Die Harte des Strafvollzugs: Entbindung in Ketten. Zeitschrift fur Sozialpsychologie und Gruppendynamik in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, 24Jg/Heft 4, S. 12-16 (Request reprint in English,in German).
• Krus, D. J. , & Hoehl, L . S. (1994) Issues associated with international incarceration rates. Psychological Reports, 75, 1491-1495 (Request reprint).
• Mauer, M. (1991) American Behind Bars: A Comparison of International Rates of Incarceration. Washington, D. C. : The Sentencing Project.
• Mauer, M. (1999) Race to incarcerate. New York: The New Press.
• Mǖllendorf, P. (1911) Geschichte der Spanischen Inquisition. Leipzig, Germany.
• Rhyne, C. E. , Templer, D. I. , Brown, L. G. , & Peters, N. B. (1995) Dimensions of suicide: perceptions of lethality, time, and agony. Suicide & Life Threatening Behavior, 25(3), 373-380.
• Sindelar, B. (1986) Hon na carodejnice v zapadni a stredni Evrope v 16. -17. stoleti. Prague: Nakladatelstvi Svoboda.

Notes