History of Mass Incarceration

“In most parts of the world, it is taken for granted that whoever is convicted of a serious crime will be sent to prison. In some countries-including the United States-where capital punishment has not yet been abolished, a small but significant number of people are sentenced to death for what are considered especially grave crimes.” (Davis, “Are Prisons Obsolete?,” 9). The United States currently holds the most prisoners in the world with over 2 million behind bars. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, the number of incarcerated in the United States makes up for almost 25 percent of the entire world’s prison population. But how did we get here? On the graph to the right, you will notice there is a sudden increase in the number of incarcerated starting in the 1970’s and continuing for the next four decades. This page will explain in further detail how that increase happened through the history of crime and punishment as well as the Wars on Poverty, Crime, and Drugs.