Differences Between Irish and American Prisons

Irish vs American Prisons

American prisons are often shown in television programmes like Orange Is The New Black and Prison Break, while there is little visual information on what the inside of Irish prisons are like. There are many differences between the two country’s correctional facilities, along with some surprising similarities.

Here are 5 of the top differences between American and Irish prisons.

1. Population Sizes

As can be expected, America has many more prisoners than Ireland as the population of the Untied states is 327.8 million, while Ireland has 4.7 million. The largest prison in Ireland is Mountjoy Prison, located in Dublin, with a population of 550 inmates. Louisiana State Penitentiary has almost 40,000 inmates, with the majority being African-American.

2. Prison Cost

On average, it costs between $31,000- $60,000 to keep an inmate in prison in America for a year. In Ireland, it costs around whopping €97,000 on average. This is to pay for food, facilities and shelter for inmates.

3.Deaths in Prison

It has been reported that on average, 12 prisoners die each day in US prisons which equate to around 4,400 each year. These deaths include suicide, murder and death by natural causes. In the past 2 years, 15 deaths have been reported in Irish prisons in total. This is a staggering difference.

4.Education

In America, literacy programmes are available to inmates that are below a sixth grade level. Religious studies can also be practiced if inmates choose to do so. Life skills classes are provided, which include 12 step recovery programmes and Alcoholics Anonymous. Irish prisons provide basic literacy and numeracy classes, music, drama, photography, woodwork, languages and healthy living programmes among others. The education system for prisons in Ireland is a vast one.

5.Children

2.7 million children unfortunately have parents behind bars. This number drops to 6,000 children with incarcerated parents in Ireland. This is a huge population of children living without one, or in some cases, two parents.