Incarceration is the state of being confined in a prison or jail, usually as punishment for a crime; while every country has some sort of prison system, the state of each is vastly different. A country’s incarceration rate is the number of people incarcerated per 100,000 people. However, a country’s total number of incarcerated persons may be examined, but it should be kept in mind that more populous countries will likely have a naturally higher number of persons incarcerated.
Incarceration rates can be difficult for a country to tackle. Some view high incarceration rates, or mass incarceration, as a civil rights issue that requires the government to adjust its laws and lower the number of persons incarcerated. On the other hand, some countries take a stricter approach and believe that any who commits a crime, no matter the crime, should be imprisoned as the law provides.
Some nations, which have historically persecuted certain groups, have seen the formerly oppressed groups make up large prison populations in their representative countries, making it a civil rights issue and can lead to an increased overall prison population. Some examples would be the overrepresentation of Black Ameircans in the US penal system and the increased incarceration rates of Indigenous groups in Australia.
Source: wisevoter.com
