A prison is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Prisons are conventionally institutions which form part of the criminal justice system of a country, such that imprisonment or incarceration is the legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime.

A criminal suspect who has been charged with or is likely to be charged with a criminal offense may be held on remand in prison if he or she is denied, refused or unable to meet conditions of bail, or is unable to post bail. This may also occur where the court determines that the suspect is at risk of absconding prior to trial, or is otherwise a risk to society. A criminal defendant may also be held in prison while awaiting trial or a trial verdict. If found guilty, a defendant will be convicted and may receive a custodial sentence requiring imprisonment.

Prisons may also be used as a tool of political repression to detain political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and "enemies of the state", particularly by authoritarian regimes. In times of war or conflict, prisoners of war may also be detained in prisons. A prison system is the organizational arrangement of the provision and operation of prisons, and depending on their nature, may invoke a corrections system. Although people have been imprisoned throughout history, they have also regularly been able to perform prison escapes.

1 Other names and uses of the term
2 Prison design and facilities
3 Prisons and the criminal justice system
4 Military and political prisons
5 Prison population statistics
6 Prisons by country
7 Prisons in history
8 Cultural references to prisons and prison life
9 See also
10 Further reading
11 External links
12 Prisoner pen-pal services

Other names and uses of the term

There are a variety of other names for prisons, such as a prison-house, penitentiary (IPA: /pɛnɪˈtɛnʃʌri/) or jail (in British English and Australian English, the spelling gaol is sometimes used in formal contexts, although this spelling is pronounced in the same fashion). There are, also, many colloquial terms for prisons — such as big house, beantown, can, clink, joint, jug, cooler, hoosegow, lockup, lockdown, nick, pokey, slammer — and a similar range of terms for imprisonment, including doing time, bird, porridge, working for Copper John, etc.

The United States is one country where the term jail generally refers to facilities where detainees are locked up for a relatively short time (either while awaiting trial or serving a sentence of one year or less upon conviction for a misdemeanor). Prison and penitentiary typically denote a place where inmates go to serve long terms after having been found guilty of a felony. In the United States, jails are usually operated under the jurisdiction of local (county) governments while prisons are operated under the jurisdiction of state or federal governments. In the state of Massachusetts, some jails are known as houses of correction. In Washington some adult prisons are called reformatories, while in other states this is reserved as a term for a prison of the juvenile justice system.

Prison design and facilities

Prison accommodation, especially modern prisons in the developed world, are often divided into wings identified by a name, number or letter. These wings may be further divided into landings that are essentially "floors" containing up to thirty cells. Cells are the smallest prison accommodation, each holding at least one or two prisoners. Cells which hold more than three or four prisoners may be known as dormitories. A building holding more than one wing is known as a "hall".

Modern large prisons will usually contain several of the following buildings and facilities:

A main entrance, which may be known as the gatelodge.
A chapel, which will often house chaplaincy offices and facilities for counselling of individuals or groups. Prisons may also contain a mosque (eg. HMP Stafford in the United Kingdom).
An education department, which may include a library, and which provides adult or continuing education opportunities for prisoners.
At least one exercise yard, fenced areas which prisoners may use for recreational and exercise purposes.
A healthcare facility, which often includes a dentist.
A segregation unit or "block", which is used to separate unruly, dangerous or vulnerable prisoners from the general population.
Vulnerable prisoners units (VPs), used to accommodate prisoners classified as vulnerable, such as sex offenders and ex-cops.
Safe cells, used to keep prisoners under constant visual observation.
Visiting rooms, where prisoners may be allowed restricted contact with relatives, friends, lawyers or other people.

Other facilities that are often found in prisons include kitchens, gymnasiums and accommodation for prison staff.

Prisons and the criminal justice system

A convicted defendant will typically receive a "custodial sentence" if found guilty of committing a serious criminal offense such as physical assault, rape, murder, and acts involving circumstances of aggravation (eg. use of a weapon, violence, children), or has reoffended. In some countries, the law may require that courts hand down a mandatory and sometimes lengthy custodial sentence whenever a crime involves property, drugs or other prohibited substances, or where the defendant has previously been convicted (see mandatory sentencing). Some jurisdictions may hold a suspect in prison on remand for varying periods of time.

Gatehouse of former 19th century St Albans prison in England, as seen in the British TV comedy Porridge.

The nature of prisons and of prison systems varies from country to country, although many systems typically segregate prisoners by sex, and by category of risk. Prisons are often rated by the degree of security, ranging from minimum security (used mainly for nonviolent offenders such as those guilty of fraud) through to maximum security and super-maximum or supermax (often used for those who have committed violent crimes or crimes while imprisoned).

The issue of crime and punishment is a highly politicized issue. Prisons, prison systems, sentencing and imprisonment practices, and the use of capital punishment may all lead to controversy and debate. For example, the use of mandatory sentencing and the effectiveness of custodial sentences for minor property crimes is often debated, especially where the prison sentence required in such cases is more harsh than for the commission of violent crimes. Some of these issues are discussed further below.

Military and political prisons

Prisons form part of military systems, and are used variously to house prisoners of war, unlawful combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by military or civilian authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime. See military prison.

Certain countries maintain or have in the past had a system of political prisons; arguably the gulags associated with Stalinism are best known. The definition of what is and is not a political crime and a political prison is, of course, highly controversial.

Prison population statistics

A cell and galleries at London's Newgate Prison in 1896.

As of 2006, it is estimated that at least nine million people are currently imprisoned worldwide ^{[citation needed]}. However, it is believed that this number is likely to be much higher, in view of general under-reporting and a lack of data from various countries, especially authoritarian regimes. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the prison population in most countries has increased significantly ^{[citation needed]}.

In absolute terms, the United States currently has the largest prison population in the world, with more than 2 million [1]. In 2002, both Russia and China (the latter with a population 4 times that of the USA) also had prison populations in excess of 1 million [2], [3].

As a percentage of total population, Rwanda has the largest prison population as of 2002, with more than 100,000 (of a total population of around 8 million), largely as a result of the 1994 genocide. The United States is second largest in relative numbers with 486 prisoners per 100,000 of population, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, also making it the largest in relative numbers amongst developed countries). New Zealand has the second highest prison population per capita amongst developed countries, with 169 prisoners per 100,000.

In 2003, the United Kingdom had 73,000 inmates in its facilities, with France and Germany having a similar number.

The high proportion of prisoners in developed countries may be explained by a range of factors, including better funded criminal justice systems, a more strict approach to law and order (eg. through the use of mandatory sentencing), and a larger gap between the rich and the poor. In non-developed countries, rates of incarceration may be a reflection of a tendency for some crimes to go unpunished, political corruption, or the use of other mechanisms which provide an alternative to incarceration as a means of dealing with crime (eg. through the use of reconciliation).

**Prison populaton per 100,000 inhabitants**
USA	Russia	Great Britain and Northern Ireland	Canada	Germany	Italy	France	Sweden	Denmark	Iceland
725	713	124	102	98	92	80	64	61	29

According to the last statistics by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (October 2005, "Prisoners in 2004), the "rate of incarceration in prison at yearend 2004 was 486 sentenced inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents". However, if one adds the jail population to that number one comes up with the more realistic figure of 724 inmates per 100,000 residents.

Prisons by country

Prisons in Australia

The main cell block of Fremantle Prison, Western Australia.

Many prisons in Australia were built by convict labour in the 1800s. During the 1990s various state governments in Australia engaged private sector correctional corporations to build and operate prisons whilst several older government run institutions were decommissioned. Operation of Federal detention centres was also privatised at a time when a large influx of illegal immigrants began to arrive in Australia.