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Countries like Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, have a prison population per capita which is about a 1/10 of the US [1]. And these countries are
by bjelkeman-again 12y ago
Countries like Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, have a prison population per capita which is about a 1/10 of the US [1]. And these countries are not generally associated with an overabundance of violent sociopaths in the community at large. So, sticking a finger in the air, I'd say it is a number less than 10%. And if it is higher my guess is that you have some kind of structural problem in that society.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarcerat...
- tptacek 12y agoA majority of prison inmates are incarcerated either for violent crimes or property crimes. The statistics in IL showed (last time I checked) a plurality of inmates convicted of domestic violence. Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands have a fraction of the inmates the US does, but they also have a fraction of the crime. There are a lot of reasons for that, and discussing them is a politically volatile rabbithole of a discussion to start. But we should at least begin by understanding the right premise. We can and should reduce sentences, particularly for low-level property crimes. But if we did most everything in our penal system "right", we'd still have integer multiples of Scandinavia's incarceration share of population.