Comparing prison systems : toward a comparative and international penology / edited by Robert P. Weiss and Nigel South.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: crime and punishment and the "state of prisons" in a changing world / Nigel South and Robert P. Weiss. Punishment in the American democracy: the paradoxes of good intentions / Dario Melossi and Mark G. Lettiere -- Canadian prisons / Bob Gaucher and John Lowman -- The crisis in Mexican prisons: the impact of the United States / J. Michael Olivero -- The state of prisons and prisoners in four countries of the Andean Region / Rosa del Olmo -- The buckling of the shields: Dutch penal policy 1985-1995 / David Downes -- Power, punishment and prisons in England and Wales 1975-1996 / Mick Ryan and Joe Sim -- The country of Cesare Beccaria: the myth of rehabilitation in Italy / Vincenzo Ruggiero -- Germany: ups and downs in the resort to imprisonment--strategic or unplanned outcomes? / Hartmut Weber and Johannes Feest -- Penal practice and social theory in Poland before and after the events of 1989 / Monika Platek -- Facing difference: relations, change and the prison sector in contemporary China / Michael Dutton and Xu Zhangrun -- The Japanese experience: effects of decreasing resort to imprisonment / Elmer H. Johnson -- Penality and imprisonment in Australia / David Brown -- Change and continuity in South African prisons / Dirk van Zyl Smit -- Conclusion: imprisonment at the millennium 2000--its variety and patterns throughout the world / Robert P. Weiss.