Pauvreté, précarité et prison : des liens de proximité inéluctables ?

Poverty, insecurity and prison, close ties inevitable?
This paper presents an analysis of the relationship between prison, precariousness, and poverty. On the basis of statistical data from Belgium and France, it is confirmed that prison concerns especially the most disadvantaged people. This statement is then analyzed in the light of the connection between criminality and punishment. It is then positioned in the framework of a global approach to punishment, as the one inspired by Rusche and Kirchheimer and later theories derived from them. As a particular demonstration, this article concludes with an analysis of the relationship between the evolution of the socioeconomic situation and the prison population in Belgium from 1830 until now