CARRANZA, ELIAS
Crime and inmate rates rise in general in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, together with prison overcrowding and the number of horrors of every kind in the very midst of criminal justice. The same is true in the medium and low-income countries of the other regions of the world.nHigher inmate rates have been recorded also in the high-income countries of Europe and North America, although, by contrast, in those countries the most serious crimes against life and property have become notably less frequent since the mid nineties, and the increase in the number of imprisoned individuals has been due to the high number of migrants who arrive in search for work from Asia, Africa, East Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean, and who, instead of finding a job are sent to prison. Criminal justice becomes tougher and the application thereof becomes more frequent in one and the other group of countries.nThe most recent and strictest research done in high, middle, and low-income countries of all regions of the world shows that this phenomenon is directly related to inequality in income distribution within the countries and, at international level, between the high-income countries and the rest of the world, and that the trend towards inequality continues to grow.