Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2024 in the subject Politics - Miscellaneous, Saint Louis University, language: English, abstract: Imagine you were wrongfully (or maybe rightfully) charged with a crime, but you were able to choose which country you would be imprisoned in. Your mind likely went straight to thinking of one of the Nordic countries, but why is that? Shouldn’t all inmates around the world have the same rights? Prison systems are a complex part of the state, and no country’s system is perfect. However, there is certainly a disparity among prison systems in terms of justice, laws, and human rights that is too large to ignore. Why is it that a prisoner in Norway gets to sleep on a decently comfortable bed, while a prisoner charged with the same crime in the DRC sleeps on the ground? One of the main reasons, besides resource allocations, is the type of prison system a country has and its general cultural ideals around incarceration. This paper will seek to answer the question of what kinds of results punitive vs. rehabilitative systems produce, using data from the United States, El Salvador, and Norway’s prison systems as examples. It will also explore some possibilities for improvement of the United States and El Salvador’s punitive justice systems. I will begin with an overview of incarceration worldwide, followed by an explanation of the punitive and rehabilitative approaches. The effects of these two approaches will then be analyzed and explained. Finally, to conclude, I will provide some of my recommendations for improvement based on my research findings.