Mass Incarceration
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Authors
Rebecca Dean
Issue Date
2026
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Language
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Abstract
Since the 1970s incarceration rates in the US have skyrocketed. Although the US holds only 5% of the world’s population, it currently holds 20% of the world’s incarcerated population. To put this in perspective, similarly developed countries only imprison roughly 100 individuals for every 100,000 people. The US imprisons 531 individuals for every 100,000 people, or around 5 times that of other developed countries.
Mass incarceration has a huge impact on every person in society in many different ways, including socially, economically, and in regards to safety. The hope of this research is to enlighten more individuals on the ramifications of the US’s current prison system, and to potentially discover practical solutions. With this in mind, my research questions are as follows; What has caused mass incarceration in the US, and what are the ramifications?