Prison and Punishment in Germany, Sweden and Denmark - Essay Example

Prison and Punishment Essay Question One Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: Prison and Punishment Essay Question One Introduction Over the last few decades, there has been a sharp increase of the use of imprisonment in different western democracies. Diverse rationales have been forwarded to explain this trend, central to them being the economic transformations that instigated in the 1970s at the global level, the creation of broad sections of the population which were either confronted by the harsh reality of unemployment on a long-term basis or alternatively employed in types of works which were characterized by extreme insecurity and the generic shrinking or total slump of the manufacturing economies (Lacey, 2010, p. 102). The sole function or interplay between these factors has been credited for the elevated crime rates in different counties and the eventual trend towards increased imprisonment of offenders. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of variations on the imprisonment systems between different countries at the global platform. This reality is best epitomized by the fact that whereas countries like Germany, Sweden and Denmark among other countries have been successful in maintaining relatively moderate criminal justice framework which is founded on inclusion (premised on the need to reintegrate the lawbreakers into the society), other counties like the USA and U.K have resulted moved towards extremes of penal severity. However, there are also variations in the latter category (Lacey, 2010, p. 102). Against this backdrop, this paper is a profound effort to explore the variations among higher and lower imprisoning countries. This discourse will focus on the USA, the Scandinavian countries and Germany while considering the socio – cultural, political and economic variables as well as crime rates in these regions. Imprisonment system in the USA Different commentators have pointed to the fact that the crime rates in the USA have been on the rise in the recent decades which has proportionally impacted on the rise of the imprisonment trends. The USA has been cited as the country with the highest imprisonment rates, even when compared to the populous countries like China. Viano (2010, p. 140) noted that despite the fact that the USA constitutes little below 5% of the global population, it has close to a quarter of the cumulative prisoners in the world. Different socio-cultural, political and economic variables can be attributed to the American trends towards crime and punishment. Cavadino and Dignan (2006, p. 440) categorized the USA as being founded on the ideals of neo-liberalism which is premised on free-market capitalism. Against this background, there is a greater trend towards individualism as opposed to collectivism or communitarianism. In this regard, economic welfare as well as the status of the citizens is greatly determined by the extent to which they will be successful in the free-market based on the background of the minimalistic welfare state. Consequently, this socio-political system in the USA is characterized by differentials in income among the citizens. This economic inequalities coupled with the inadequacy of social entitlement culminates social exclusion of immense members of the population who suffer under the marginalization of the market under which they have inadequate capacity to operate, most notably in the housing and labour markets. In addition, the family institution is disintegrated as a result of these socio-economic realities as well as the prevalent cultural orientation (Cavadino &Dignan, 2006, p. 440). On the other hand, it is imperative to note that the prison system in the USA is greatly characterized by differentiation in terms of specific population segments forming majority of the prisoners in the country. This is chiefly founded on the socio-economic as well as cultural factors whereby historical determinants have led to a continued vicious cycle of poverty among these populations. This is best exemplified among the African-American population in the USA whereby historical factors like slavery have seen poverty levels worsening from one generation to the other (Wacquant, 2001, p. 99). This have culminated in the growth of the imprisoned population, the entrenchment of ethnically-based gangs, the oppositional culture of the streets as well as the rise of drug offenders mostly among the young members of this population as they try to escape from the harsh socio-economic realities surrounding them (Wacquant, 2001, p. 109). This has also led to the sentencing transformation as a result of the increase in serious crimes as well as offender in these marginalized societies (Tonry, 1999, p. 2). Figure 1.0: National Crime Victimization Survey, 1980-2007 Source: Miller, D.W (2010). The above figure shows the gradual increase of the adults in prison systems in the USA between 1980 and 2007. Therefore, interplay between the aforementioned factors among others has resulted in the increase of the crime rates in the USA, directly impacting on the increase number of imprisoned members of the USA population. This has led to USA being cited as having the highest imprisonment rate in the world. Another aspect of the prison system in the USA has been a paradigm shift towards the privatization of the prison system. This is whereby public facilities are transferred to private institutions after a contractual agreement with the government to provide services like medical care, food and transportation among other services to the public prisons (Miller, 2010, p. 1). The expansion of the prison system coupled with the socio-cultural, political and economic factors previously mentioned has resulted in USA becoming the leading imprisoning country in the world. The Scandinavian countries In a geographical perspective, the Scandinavian countries which include Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway are located on the margins of Europe and are characterized by sparse population of a total of approximately 24 million with the exception of Denmark (Hofer, 1999, p. 284). As opposed to the prison system in the USA which is characterized by immensely populated prisons which are proportional to the rising crime rates in the country, the Scandinavian countries are characterized by a high number of small prisons which often accumulate 100 inmates or fewer. This is epitomized by the figures in 2006 whereby there were 47 in Norway, 86 in Sweden and 38 in Finland accounting for 4.6 million, 9.1 million and 5.4 million inmates respectively. The largest prison in these counties is in Sweden which accommodates approximately 350 inmates (Pratt, 2008, Part 1, p. 120). The prison system in these countries is characterized by immense exceptionalism. According to Pratt (2008, Part 1, p. 120), the cradle of the Scandinavian exceptionalism is founded on the extreme cultural values as well as the social framework of these societies. In this regard, there have been immense efforts towards the institutionalization of egalitarianism in the social set-up through the development of welfare system in these Scandinavian countries. The deep entrenchment of the welfare system in these countries started to take root in the 1930s after the realization that these reforms would be central in minimizing the level of crime as well as other social problems in these regions. This is based on the fact that rise issues of drug use and trafficking due to difficult socio-economic situations, prostitution as well as prominence of organized gangs would be curtailed through a well-tailored welfare system. As a result, the socio-cultural framework in the Scandinavian countries has been fundamental in insulating these countries from the politics of obligatory law and order which has been chief in moulding the Anglo-American prison system and the wider societies (Garland, 2001, p. 5). In addition, the relative level of social equality in the counties has been cited as being key to the reduced tendency of imposing heavy imprisonment penalties on offenders. This fact is supported by Seppala (2007, p. 23) who determined that a society which is founded on equality and exhibits concerns concern over the welfare of the citizens has a low tendency of imposing heavy imprisonment penalties on the members. This is contrary to societies with great social-economic differences where punishment applies to ‘others’ and the underclass. In regard to crime rates, Pratt (2008, Part 2, p. 275) cited that there was a gradual increase of crime rates from 1950 to 1990 in these counties but has either stabilized or declined since then. This has a direct impact on the level of imprisonment in this region leading it being categorized as having the lowest imprisonment rates in the world. Germany It has been pointed out that since 1966, German as a country has undergone imperative changes on its traditional approach to criminal policy, which has had enormous impacts on the prison policy (Boetticher& Feest, 2011, p. 361).The rates of imprisonment in Germany declined since the early 1970s when compared with the figures in the 1960s and proceeded to stabilize in the 1970s, 80s and 90s (Tonry, 2004, p. 1188). The following figure shows the imprisonment trends in Germany between 1961 and 1992. Figure 1.1 Imprisonment, Violent crime, and Murder rates in Germany, 1961-1992 (per 100, 000 population Source: Tonry (2004) In regard to the political orientation of Germany, Schneider et. al. (2009, p. 4) noted that the political system in Germany is based on a democratic regime. It is a federal state which is founded on social justice as well as the rule of constitutional law. On the other hand, the prison system in Germany is based on a culture of egalitarianism whereby all the offenders are treated with significant dignity and respect, entitled to their rights of citizenship in exclusion of those which are basically denied in the prison set-up, for instance, freedom of movement (Tonry, 2004, p. 1205). This has been central in reducing the level of trauma among the imprisonment through the ‘civilization’ of punishment and a gradual focus towards the rehabilitation of the offenders in the German prisons (Garland 2006, p. 422). From an economic perspective, despite the free nature of the German market, there is relatively higher level of economic equality of the population when compared to countries like the USA. This has been imperative in ensuring that there are reduced crime rates in the country which are usually tied to high social inequality in different societies. Conclusion From the preceding discourse, it is apparent that there is extensive variation of imprisonment between the USA, the Scandinavian countries as well as in Germany. This can be attributed to the aspects of socio-economic equality in these countries, the dedication of the political class towards welfare as well as the generic culture of the members of the population in these countries. References Boetticher, A., & Feest, J., 2011, ‘German criminal and prison policy’, retrieved 07 Sept. 2012< http://fondationinternationalepenaleetpenitentiaire.org/Site/documents/Stavern/19_Stavern_Report%20Germany.pdf>. Cavadino, M. Dignan, J., 2006, ‘Penal policy and political economy’, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 435-456. Hofer, H. V., 1999, ‘Notes on crime and punishment in Sweden and Scandinavia’, retrieved 07 Sept. 2012 . Garland , D., 2001, The Culture of Control, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Garland , D , 2006, ‘Concepts of culture in the sociology of punishment’, Theoretical Criminology, Vol. 10, No.4, pp. 419-447. Lacey, N., 2010, ‘American imprisonment in comparative perspective’,Daedalus, Vol. 139, pp. 102-114. Miller, D.W, 2010, ‘The Drain of Public Prison Systems and the Role of Privatization: An Analysis of State Correctional Systems’, retrieved 07 Sept. 2012 . Pratt, J., 2008, ‘Scandinavian Exceptionalism in an Era of Penal Excess. Part1: The nature and roots of Scandinavian Exceptionalism’, British Journal of Criminology,Vol. 48, pp. 119-137. Pratt, J ., 2008, ‘Scandinavian Exceptionalism in an Era of Penal Excess. Part2: Does Scandinavian Exceptionalism Have a Future?’,British Journal of Criminology, Vol. 48, pp. 275-292. Schneider et. al., 2009, The German Vocational Education and Training (VET) System, 7th ed., Cedefop, Brussels. Seppala, T. L., 2007, ‘Trust, Welfare and Political EconomyCross-comparative perspectives in penal severity, retrieved 07 Sept. 2012. Tonry, M., 1999, ‘Germany is a republic and a democracy; it is a federal state based on the rule ofconstitutional law and social justice’, retrieved 07 Sept. 2012 . Tonry, M., 2004, ‘Why Aren’t German Penal Policies Harsher and ImprisonmentRates Higher?’, German Law Journal, Vol. 5, No. 10, pp. 1187-1206. Viano, E. C., 2010, ‘America’s Prison System’, retrieved 07 Sept. 2012 < http://fondationinternationalepenaleetpenitentiaire.org/Site/documents/Stavern/10_Stavern_Report%20America.pdf>. Wacquant, L, 2001., ‘ Deadly Symbiosis: Where Ghetto and Prison Meet and Mesh,’ Punishment and Society, Vol. 3, No. 95, pp. 94-133. . Read More