It has been said by many with extensive experience with the non-magical world that the magical world is long out of date to the advances of the modern times. Some of this is fair and some of it not. Part of the problem stems from it is a foreign culture for all that it exists in the same physical landmass and speaks the same language. Differences that would be accepted when visiting another nation irritate the Muggle-born or or wizard expecting English values and culture.
The problems arose from the splitting of the two worlds in the years shortly before the fall of the western portion of the Roman Empire. An anthropologist would consider a comparison between the two 'worlds' to be a fascinating study of divergent cultural evolution from a common source. The mundane world had great numbers but lacked the ability to meet their needs. Democracy and technology eventually developed to combat the violence, ignorance, and starvation of the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages themselves could be considered a direct effect of the sudden loss of magical resources and solutions. The mundane population had to overcome and adapt to their challenges. Their culture adapted in response to these changes.
The magical world actually saw an increase in resources with the split. Relieved of providing potions and other assistance to the mundane population, the magical population had a surplus. For a short time the magical world saw a period of unprecedented expansion and discovery but it wasn't to last. Unfortunately, within a generation or two the lack of necessity limited the drive to develop and innovate at the same rate as the mundane world. But still for over a thousand years the magical world maintained distinct advantages in medical care, transportation, education, destructive power, and virtually every other field. This long running superiority led many wizards into assuming a natural superiority over non-magical humans. But the mundane world continued to improve. By the mid- 20th Century, the average British mundane's standard of living matched that of their magical counterpart - even if the magical world refused to see it.
One area of difference was in criminal punishment. The magical world did not see much in the way of serious crime. The ability to conjure and transfigure items to meet your needs took away most criminal motives. Minor crimes were punished by loss of a wand temporarily or permanently, home imprisonment (via wards), or use of potions to prevent desire to commit the crime again. Major crimes were limited to murder, rape, Dark Magic use, violent attacks on Muggles, or treason. (Treason covered a wide range from attempts to overthrow the Ministry or repeated/wilfully breaking the Statute of Secrecy.) These crimes resulted in incarceration at Azkaban.
Azkaban prison started as the fortress of an ancient Dark Lord. He and his followers were the very first inmates to the prison. The use of his servants, the Dementors, to punish him was seen as being particularly poetic at the time. At the time, the prison was well above the standards of its mundane counterparts. However, time and a lack of interest in upgrades or even maintenance by the various magical governments had a prison to shame even the most oppressive mundane regime. Money spent on the former fortress was a waste of Galleons the Ministry reckoned. The small magical population rarely had more than a half-a-dozen prisoners at any given time historically. Even after You-Know-Who's fall it only reached twenty-two., the highest number in 300 years.
In short, it became a Hell on Earth.
The cells were cold and drafty. The wards prevented the majority of cold North Sea winds from penetrating the fortress walls. The remaining wards were sufficient to keep the prisoners' cells above freezing but the cold and lack of food took many prisoners' lives each year. It was no accident that the Minster for Magic's annual visit occurred during the brief summer experienced on the island. The Ministry sent seventeen Death Eaters to the prison after Voldemort's fall on life sentences. Yet by September of 1992, only twelve still survived.
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