The fine and imprisonment are the most widely used sanctions both proportional to the offense seriousness. Fines account for more than 80 percent of all penalties; 6 percent become custodial sentences for fine defaulters. Increases in prison populations during the 1970's led to tensions, prison disturbances, and decarceration policies that reduced the inmate population. This decline was due less to a corresponding reduction in the crime rate than to the skepticism of judges with regard to custody. Despite recent increases, the rate of imprisonment is lower in reunited Germany than it was throughout the 1980's in the former West Germany. The increase has been in the population on remand, possibly as a result of increased fear of crime and the subsequent higher demand for custodial punishment. The current correctional system combines repression and welfare, making it ideologically powerful and perceived as fairer than systems based on pure retribution. The use of both repression and welfare is subject to discretion and depends on public fears, contingent scares, and the general sociopolitical climate. The emergency legislation enacted in the 1970's has never been repealed and could be activated whenever fears emerge, although it has not been used to counter neo-Nazi gangs. Tables, note, and 38 references