Etude des fluctuations de la population carcérale allemande

In: Déviance et société, Band 20, Heft 1, S. 59-83

Abstract

While the prison population of most occidental countries increased dramatically, the incarceration rate in Germany decreased significantly twice during the past thirty years: first in 1969 and second between 1983 and 1991. The present research tries to find out the reasons for these decreases. The first decrease is clearly the result of the 1969 reform of the German criminal law (reform which had positive as well as negative repercussions). The second decrease cannot be explained by legal reform and seems to result from a change of attitude on the part of judges and prosecutors towards criminals.