Prison Sentences: US, Germany, The Netherlands

[mark46]

The average U.S. prison sentence is three years.

In the Netherlands and Germany, 91 percent and 75 percent of prison sentences, respectively, are one year or less. ... The U.S. incarceration rate is 693 per 100,000 residents —compared to 76 per 100,000 in Germany, and 69 per 100,000 in the Netherlands.
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Discuss
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We can look at crime rates also to see the effect of long average sentences.

 

[Paulos23]

So a question is what is the repeat offender rate.

I imagine it is more in the US.

 

[Occams Barber]

The average U.S. prison sentence is three years.

In the Netherlands and Germany, 91 percent and 75 percent of prison sentences, respectively, are one year or less. ... The U.S. incarceration rate is 693 per 100,000 residents —compared to 76 per 100,000 in Germany, and 69 per 100,000 in the Netherlands.
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Discuss
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We can look at crime rates also to see the effect of long average sentences.

According to this Wiki data:

List of countries by incarceration rate - Wikipedia

the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

OB

 

[Whyayeman]

Repeat murders after release are extremely rare in the UK (though not unheard of).

 

[Occams Barber]

So a question is what is the repeat offender rate.

I imagine it is more in the US.

After a quick search it appears that reliable comparative repeat offender (recidivism) rates are hard to find. There appears to be a shortage of data combined with differing ways of defining and measuring recidivism.

This opinion is from A Systematic Review of Criminal Recidivism Rates Worldwide: Current Difficulties and Recommendations for Best Practice - PubMed (nih.gov)

Results: We identified recidivism data for 18 countries. Of the 20 countries with the largest prison populations, only 2 reported repeat offending rates. The most commonly reported outcome was 2-year reconviction rates in prisoners. Sample selection and definitions of recidivism varied widely, and few countries were comparable.

Conclusions: Recidivism data are currently not valid for international comparisons. Justice Departments should consider using the reporting guidelines developed in this paper to report their data.
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Edit: above quote comes from a paper published in 2015. A 2020 review of the paper found :

Although some countries have made efforts to improve reporting, recidivism rates are not comparable between countries.
A systematic review of criminal recidivism rates worldwide: 3-year update - PubMed (nih.gov)​

OB

 

[MIDutch]

The reason the incarceration in the Netherlands is so low, of course, that they've shut down a number of prisons.

I'm sure the conservatives will assume that that's because the liberal Dutch just let all of their prisoners/criminals wander the streets commiting crimes.

 

[wing2000]

Yes, the "land of the free" imprisons more of its citizens than any other country on earth. And there's an entire industry that profits from locking people away...

 

[rambot]

For profit prisons are pretty clearly a huge problems.

I'm hoping Biden follows through on all that stuff

 

[mark46]

Yes, the "land of the free" imprisons more of its citizens than any other country on earth. And there's an entire industry that profits from locking people away...

I agree that profit making prisons are a poor idea.

However debating about who should own the prisons masks the real problems: who should be there, for how long and the function of the prisons.

 

[Whyayeman]

The idea of private prisons has been imported to the UK. They have turned out badly on the whole. The idea has lost traction; no more are expected and prisons have been returned to the Ministry of Justice.