Between 1925 and 1972, the United States of America encountered a relative stability in incarceration ("The Growth of Incarceration in the United States"). Many historians and social scientists concur that the periods after the Civil rights movement saw the beginning of mass incarceration encouraged to the creation of the Law Enforcement Assistant Administration of Justice and Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Acts (Lichtenstein 115). Around these times, Florida had over 60000 inmates, and the size began expanding. By the year 2000, prison and mass incarceration centers became a regular part of the social life of the people.
At the beginning of the 1970s, the practice of incarceration was not widespread. Moreover, many people strongly criticized it as being ineffective. In 1971, many thought the history of incarceration would come to its end soon. On the contrary, the practice became more popular. In the 1980s, the war on drugs led to the mass incarceration of African Americans. Thus, in 1992, the justice system resorted to a decision, which supported the incarceration of all criminals to reduce the crime rates ("The Growth of Incarceration in the United States"). Containment and harsh punishment became the primary strategies in controlling crime.
The problem with the incarceration is that those who finish their terms often come back to prisons because of new crimes. There are many reasons for people’s incarceration. Problems in families, limited employment opportunities, and poor neighborhoods are among many of them. Since there is little hope for the successful reentry into the society, the released have no other choices but to commit crimes again. Because of the mass incarceration, African Americans represent the most of the prison population.
The possible reason for that is the prejudice the society has towards blacks. The statistics say that every fourth black man should face incarceration. Only a few of them graduate from school or enter colleges. Moreover, the incarceration trends also vary among states. For instance, while the rates in Massachusetts slightly doubled, they increased by six times in such states as Louisiana and Mississippi. The greatest increase occurred in western and southern states in the period between 1972 and 2000 ("The Growth of Incarceration in the United States").
Mass incarceration, however, seems unlikely to continue in the long term, and therefore other punitive punishments must arise. The number of immigrants is increasing, and the population was rising. Such an increase in population leads to the increase in crime and therefore brings a need the continuous increase in the bed capacity in prisons. Ultimately, this was the government's objective of cutting public expenditures. The already high taxes also do not allow for continued funding for the prison services. The states of Texas, California, and Florida have the highest number of prisoners and prison capacity.
References:
"The Growth of Incarceration in the United States". The National Academies Press, http://johnjay.jjay.cuny.edu/nrc/nas_report_on_incarceration.pdf
Lichtenstein, Alex. "Flocatex and the Fiscal Limits of Mass Incarceration: Toward a New Political Economy of the Postwar Carceral State."