Abstract
In the last two decades, there has been an extraordinary growth in incarceration rates in South America, with some variations across national contexts but generally in line with the same trend. Twenty years ago, incarceration rates were relatively low in most countries in the region; despite that knowledge, it has proved difficult to reconstruct the official data for that period. In 1992, with the exclusion of the small countries with less than one million inhabitants in the Northern region of South America such as Guyana, French Guyana and Surinam, only three countries had 100 prisoners or more per 100,000 inhabitants: Uruguay (100), Venezuela (133) and Chile (154) (see Figure 1). Several other national contexts reflected ‘Scandinavian’ rates, such as Argentina (62), Peru (69), Ecuador (75) and Brazil (74).
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Highlights
Growth in incarceration rates In the last two decades, there has been an extraordinary growth in incarceration rates in South America, with some variations across national contexts but generally in line with the same trend
As has repeatedly been pointed out, the incarceration rate is an incomplete indicator when it comes to measuring levels of punitiveness, which is understood here in broad terms to be the levels of pain or suffering caused by the criminal justice system, but this measure has proved to be a good starting point (Sozzo 2011, 2013)
Our empirical approach towards punitiveness – both in terms of extent and intensity and using both quantitative and qualitative methods – should, in general terms, be more nuanced (Brodeur 2007; Frost 2008; Hamilton 2014; Hinds 2005; Kommer 2004; Nelken 2005, 2010a, 2010b; Pease 1994; Tonry 2007). We use this imperfect indicator of incarceration rates here because it is the only one available and in this way we can at least approach this complex phenomenon
Summary
Growth in incarceration rates In the last two decades, there has been an extraordinary growth in incarceration rates in South America, with some variations across national contexts but generally in line with the same trend. Our empirical approach towards punitiveness – both in terms of extent and intensity and using both quantitative and qualitative methods – should, in general terms, be more nuanced (Brodeur 2007; Frost 2008; Hamilton 2014; Hinds 2005; Kommer 2004; Nelken 2005, 2010a, 2010b; Pease 1994; Tonry 2007) We use this imperfect indicator of incarceration rates here because it is the only one available and in this way we can at least approach this complex phenomenon.. All others have exceeded that threshold: Peru (236), Chile (240), Colombia (244), Uruguay (282) and Brazil (300) (Figure 2). South America finds itself far from the levels of incarceration in Scandinavia, which have largely remained at the levels of twenty years ago.
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