Comparing Prison Systems: Toward a Comparative and International Penology.

• Author: Ferrall, Bard R.
• Position: Review

COMPARING PRISON SYSTEMS: TOWARD A COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL PENOLOGY (Robert P. Weiss & Nigel South, Eds.) (Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1998) 488 pp.

This book is an extensive comparative study of the penal policy of the industrial nations of the world, placing each country's prison system within that country's history, culture and political system. Special emphasis is placed on the major political and social changes of the late Twentieth Century, and the impact of those changes on the prison systems around the world. Contributors were chosen not only for their knowledge of penology, but also for their knowledge of the relevant geopolitical region. Included are studies of the prison systems of the United States, Canada, Mexico and the countries of the Andean region, England, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, China, Japan, Australia and South Africa. Contributors examined changes brought about by such developments as the globalization of economic competition, the rise of neo-conservative politics and neo-liberal economics (i.e., a turn from the welfare state back to the pre-New Deal laissez faire market economics), the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, and the emergence of a market economy in China. The editors aim to link global prison trends with global social, economic, and political denominators, to produce broad generalizations where possible, and to illuminate historical and cultural...