Alarming prison numbers: overcrowding and risk of relapse increase!

Alarming prison numbers: overcrowding and risk of relapse increase!

Peine, Deutschland - 84,447 people currently live in prisons in France, which corresponds to the population of cities such as Versailles or Dunkerque. This number illustrates the challenges that the French prison system faces. According to Radio France the topic is often only neglected under the public discourse Aspect of danger illuminated.

The concerns about the relapse rate are not unfounded: a whopping 63 % of the released prisoners come back into conflict with the law within five years. This problem is tightened by the alarming conditions in the detention centers. The overcrowded facilities, which are often faced with an occupancy rate of 135 %, offer only limited access to work and training as well as inadequate reintegration projects.

overcrowding and its consequences

The overcrowding in prisons is considered particularly worrying. Many facilities seem to have reached the point of overload. This raises fundamental questions: Are short prison terms, which often only three to six months, are really useful? And what happens to those who disappear behind bars for decades? According to studies, the causes of the growth of the prison population are complex worldwide and also have their roots in France.

worldwide are over 11 million people in custody, more than 3 million of them in custody. This has led to overcrowded detention centers and inhuman prison conditions in many countries. Even in countries like the Philippines, the overcrowding is alarming with 460 %. The United States, which have the largest prison population worldwide, also show how deep the problem is rooted - there are over 2 million people behind bars, which leads to a disproportionately high proportion of detainees.

need for action

The global trends for detention show that high detainment rates not only have high costs for taxpayers, but also affect disadvantaged population groups disproportionately. In Brazil, for example, the prison population rose from 30,000 to over 750,000. Reforms seem urgently need to address fundamental questions of how to work.

With the Covid 19 pandemic, additional pressure on the reforms in criminal law came. Some countries have taken drastic measures to reduce the prison population. In the future, it will have to be about reducing the politicization of judgments and finding alternative solutions to criminal problems, according to the results of the Studies .

In a time when more people question the detention as a solution to social problems, it remains to be seen to what extent the discourse on prison terms and their relevance for society will also change.