Growth of Incarceration in the U.S. - Causes and Consequences

This National Research Council report analyzes the historically unprecedented rise in the use of incarceration in the U.S. It also examines the best available evidence on the effects of high incarceration rates and concludes that policymakers should reduce the nation’s reliance on incarceration and seek crime-control strategies that are more effective, with better public safety benefits and fewer unwanted consequences.

The rate of imprisonment in the United States more than quadrupled during the last four decades. After years of stability from the 1920s to the early 1970s, the U.S. penal population of 2.2 million adults is now by far the largest in the world. Just under one-quarter of the world's prisoners are held in American prisons. The U.S. rate of incarceration, with nearly 1 out of every 100 adults in prison or jail, is five to ten times higher than the rates in Western Europe and other democracies. The U.S. prison population is largely drawn from the most disadvantaged part of the nation's population: mostly men under age 40, disproportionately minority, and poorly educated. Prisoners often carry additional deficits of drug and alcohol addictions, mental and physical illnesses, and lack of work preparation or experience. The growth of incarceration in the United States has prompted numerous critiques and a growing body of scientific knowledge about what prompted the rise and what its consequences have been for the people imprisoned, their families and communities, and for U.S. society.

Several resources were produced to expand the reach of the report—a report brief, issue briefs, presentation slides and legislation updates, videos, and infographics.