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Countering Punitiveness: Understanding Stability in Canada's Imprisonment Rate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Anthony N. Doob  and
Cheryl Marie Webster
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Abstract

Canada's imprisonment rate has not changed appreciably since 1960. This stability contrasts with the increased imprisonment rates experienced by Canada's most obvious comparators—the United States and England and Wales. We examine this divergence and propose several interrelated explanations for Canada's anomalous pattern. While Canada is shown not to be immune to pressure for harsher practices and policies, it has been able to counter or balance these trends with other more moderating forces. In particular, we suggest that Canadians have largely been able to escape several of the wider forces or “risk factors” at the root of higher incarceration in other countries. Further, we suggest that certain protective factors of a historical, cultural, and structural nature can also be identified that have limited the extent to which Canada has adopted the same punitive policies documented in the United States and England and Wales.

Type
Two Perspectives on Punishment
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , June 2006 , pp. 325 - 368
Copyright
© 2006 Law and Society Association.

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Footnotes

The writing of this article was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant.

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