Issues associated with international rates of incarceration were discussed from the perspective of national policies and cultural and societal characteristics, contrasting Japan which has one of the lowest incarceration rates and the United States which imprisons more of its citizens than any other nation but Russia. A computer-aided search of 50,000 records on 30 nations was followed by multiple regression analysis indicating that, jointly, unequal distribution of national income and disintegration of family are principal determinants of incarceration rates.
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