Section IV: Global Comparisons

Crime and incarceration around the world:

Finland: Crime control & decarceration

• Approximate number of years Finland did not have the highest incarceration rate in Scandinavia, 1886-1993595: 1
• Incarceration rate in Finland per 100,000 population, 1918596: 250
• Approximate Finish incarceration rate per 100,000 population, 1920-1950597: 200
• Number of years between 1975 and 1998 where the Finnish prison population rate per 100,000 population rose598: 0
• Number of prisoners in Finland599: 2,700
• Current Finnish incarceration rate per 100,000 population600: 52
• Of the four Scandinavian countries, current rank, of Finland's incarceration rate601: 4
• Number of guns owned by the Hameenilla penitentiary602: 10
• Percent of penitentiary's guns locked in the warden's safe603: 100%
• Number of military-style uniforms in the Finnish prisons604: 0
• In polls measuring what national institutions are admired the most, rank given to the Finnish police605: 1
• Percent of other European countries with a larger police force per capita than Finland606: 100%
• Percent of Finns who were a victim of a crime in 1999607: 19%
• Average % of residents of industrialized countries that were a victim of a crime in 1999608: 21%

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative..