NCJ Number
50327
Date Published
1977
Length
18 pages
Annotation
THE BASIC FEATURES OF ALL OF AUSTRALIA'S PRISON SYSTEMS ARE OUTLINED, AND THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN IMPRISONMENT RATES FOR THE EIGHT INDEPENDENT JURISDICTIONS ARE ANALYZED.
Abstract
THE PRISON SYSTEMS OF AUSTRALIA'S INDEPENDENT JURISDICTIONS ARE DESCRIBED, AND TABLES OF STATISTICS ARE PROVIDED. A SUMMARY TABLE SHOWS THE NUMBER OF INSTITUTIONS IN EACH JURISDICTION, THE DAILY AVERAGE POPULATION, PERCENTAGE IN THE LARGEST INSTITUTION, PERCENTAGE IN MINIMUM SECURITY, PERCENTAGE OF ESCAPEES, AND YEAR OF COMMENCEMENT OF PAROLE SYSTEM. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN IMPRISONMENT RATES IN THE VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS ARE NOTED TO HAVE PERSISTED OVER TIME FOR THE SIX STATES CONSIDERED; AND SUCH DIFFERENCES ARE JUDGED ONLY MARGINALLY INFLUENCED BY DIVERGENCES IN TERMINOLOGY OR STYLES OF SOCIAL BOOKKEEPING. IMPRISONMENT RATES DO NOT SEEM TO BE CORRELATED WIH CRIME RATES AS DETERMINED BY EITHER THE EXTENT OF LEGISLATIVE PROSCRIPTION OR BY THE NUMBERS OF OFFENSES REPORTED TO THE POLICE. NEITHER DOES IT APPEAR THAT DIFFERENCES IN THE RELATIVE STRENGTHS OF POLICE FORCES, OR THE PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD THE POLICE ARE RELATED TO THE IMPRISONMENT RATES. SIMILARLY, IT CANNOT BE DEMONSTRATED THAT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FORMAL PAROLE SERVICES ARE RELEVANT TO RATE DIFFERENCES. IT IS POSSIBLE, HOWEVER, THAT OTHER ALTERNATIVES TO IMPRISONMENT, SUCH AS THE AVAILABILITY OF PERIODIC DETENTION, WORK RELEASE, WORK ORDERS, AND SUSPENDED SENTENCES MAY BE SIGNIFICANT. IT HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED BY PREVIOUS RESEARCH THAT THE AVAILABILITY OF MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES AND THE NUMBERS AND LEGAL STATUS OF ABORIGINES ARE BOTH FACTORS WHICH RELATE TO THE RELATIVE USE OF IMPRISONMENT IN EACH JURISDICTION. SINCE THESE EXPLANATORY FACTORS DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR THE TOTALITY OF THE DIFFERENCES IN PRISON NUMBERS, IT HAS BEEN HYPOTHESIZED THAT GEOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL ISOLATION EXERT AN INFLUENCE ON THE IMPRISONMENT RATES. (RCB)