The punitive consequences of organizational structures in England, France and the United States

D’Amico, Daniel J.; Williamson, Claudia R.

doi:10.1017/s1744137418000127

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…These and related typologies are particularly useful for scholars who restrict their attention to developed nations, showing that Anglo‐Saxon countries tend to have higher incarceration rates than those in continental Europe, with the United States serving as a particular point of contrast to other Western nations. Prior work attempting to explain the peculiarity of the United States focuses on a range of institutional and cultural dynamics, including the hierarchical organization of criminal justice (D’Amico and Williamson 2019b), the intersection of political economy and race (Lacey 2008), and status degradation (Whitman 2003).…”

Section: The Criminological Kuznets Curvementioning

confidence: 99%

The Iron Cage of Development: A Cross‐National Analysis of Incarceration, 2000 – 2015

Clark

Herbolsheimer²

2021

Sociological Forum

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Comparative studies on incarceration rely heavily on demand‐based explanations, suggesting that prison rates are driven by sentencing practices and the criminalization of certain activities. In turn, such theories are often tested against the backdrop of factors that regulate the supply of offenders and facilities. We agree that supply and demand factors may be proximate causes of prison population sizes, but that socio‐economic development is central to shaping the larger narrative. In this study, we identify a “criminological Kuznets curve,” whereby the association between incarceration rates and economic development is curvilinear, reaching its peak among middle‐income countries. Drawing from a sample of 680 observations across 111 countries during the 2000 – 2015 period, we find that incarceration is strongly associated with factors rooted in development, including crime rates, the age structure of the population, and democratization. We find that human rights conditions are positively associated with incarceration, which we interpret as a shift away from more severe forms of punishment (e.g., death penalty, torture) as societies modernize. Meanwhile, the effects of several other predictors (government expenditures and income inequality) are conditioned by a country’s level of development. Finally, when adding country fixed effects, we show that economic growth increases prison rates among low‐income countries, but reduces them among affluent nations, which directly contributes to the criminological Kuznets curve. Overall, we conclude that prison populations are shaped by both supply and demand factors, but that development processes help organize these relationships.

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Section: The Criminological Kuznets Curvementioning

confidence: 99%