Research Guides: Punishment and Society: International

International Data

World Prison Brief Data: Information about prison systems throughout the world, including prison populations and prison population rates, the use of imprisonment for women and juveniles, trend data on pre-trial/remand prison populations, prison overcrowding, and the national ministries responsible for prisons.

Sentencing Burglary, Drug Importation, and Murder: Evidence From Ten Countries: Catherine Heard and Jessica Jacobson. London, Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research, January 2021.; "This report examines the extent and nature of international disparities in custodial sentencing...The ten jurisdictions which are the focus of this research span all five continents: Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, the USA (and more specifically, New York State), India, Thailand, England and Wales, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Australia (more specifically, New South Wales)." The Appendixincludes vignettes with likely outcomes for each country.

Pre-Trial Detention and Its Over-Use: Evidence From Ten Countries: Catherine Heard and Helen Fair. London, Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research, November 2019.

Prison: Evidence of its Use and Over-Use From Around the World: Jessica Jacobson, Catherine Heard, and Helen Fair. London, Institute for Criminal Policy Research, March 2017.; "This report looks at patterns of imprisonment in ten contrasting jurisdictions across all five continents of the world." Countries: Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, the United States of America, India, Thailand, England & Wales, Hungary, the Netherlands and Australia.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: Data: Data by topic includes country trends; country profiles as well.

Death Sentences and Executions 2021: Amnesty International, May 24, 2022.; Annual report on the judicial use of the death penalty. "Amnesty International reports only on executions, death sentences and other aspects of the use of the death penalty, such as commutations and exonerations, where there is reasonable confirmation. In many countries governments do not publish information on their use of the death penalty."