FIRST, THE TIME SERIES OF THE IMPRISONMENT DATA FOR THE UNITED STATES, NORWAY, AND CANADA ARE ANALYZED TO PROVIDE AN EMPIRICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE DATA. THESE RESULTS INDICATE A STRIKING SIMILARITY IN THE DATA STRUCTURES IN THE THREE COUNTRIES STUDIED. DIFFERENT MODELS OF THE CRIME AND IMPRISONMENT PROCESS ARE THEN EXPLORED IN AN EFFORT TO CHARACTERIZE AN UNDERLYING PROCESS THAT WOULD GENERATE THE KINDS OF TIME SERIES OBSERVED. A SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS IS THEN PERFORMED TO IDENTIFY HOW THE DIFFERENT PARAMETERS OF ONE SUCH MODEL CONTRIBUTE TO NATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN OBSERVED LEVELS OF PUNISHMENT. STATISTICAL TABLES AND FIGURES DOCUMENT THE NARRATIVE PORTION OF THE TEXT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)...KAP