Analyzing the Causes of Mass Incarceration in the US: Criminal Justice

This criminal justice report examines the multifaceted causes of mass incarceration in the United States. The report begins by introducing the alarming rise in the prison population and its implications. It then delves into several key factors contributing to this trend, including lengthy prison sentences compared to European nations, the tendency of the US judiciary to impose stricter sentences, the impact of economic conditions on crime rates, and the role of drug-related offenses. The report also explores the influence of racial disparities in sentencing and the impact of privatized prisons. The analysis highlights the complex interplay of these factors and concludes that no single cause can be identified as the sole driver of mass incarceration. The report recommends amending harsh imprisonment durations, decriminalizing drug-related issues, and supporting prison abolition movements, alongside prison education programs to prevent reincarceration. The report uses statistical data and various research to support its arguments.

Running head: CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Criminal Justice
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Incarceration being one of the most crucial form of punishment and a type of
rehabilitation in case of serious offences in the United States, the number of prison-dwellers
are increasing by leaps and bounds every year, making U.S. ahead of other countries in terms
of holding the largest prison population record and incarceration rate in the world. As per the
last statistical data, there were 655 incarcerated people in the prison against 100,000 odd
people.
However, there is no particular cause that could be stated as the major reason behind
such high rate of prison population in the U.S. Therefore, it is stated that there is a necessity
of reviewing the probable causes of high rate of incarceration in the U.S. in order to
find out a suitable solution to curb it. In this paper, the various reasons discussed by
different researchers would be evaluated and critically analysed in order to reach a conclusion
and subsequently certain recommendation as well.
Discussion
The National Research Council published a report in 2014 that identified two causes
behind the growth of prison population in the US over the last 40 years. One of which is
identified as lengthy prison sentences and another is the tendency of the judiciary to deliver
judgments that are prone to imprison offenders rather than offering them a different kind of
rehabilitation or correctional facility.
Lengthy prison sentences
In comparison to the European Nations US tends to have a longer imprisonment
duration that naturally bulks up the population in the prison over the long duration of the
imprisonment of the offenders. However as per the statistical reports European Nations
having a shorter prison sentence in comparison to US and therefore certainly has a lesser

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prison population yet with the same or lesser crime rates (Clear & Frost, 2015). However it is
believed that a cap on the prison sentences would not end the high rate of incarceration all at
once, yet it would benefit at least ten thousand people who have been imprisoned over a long
period of time. It is proposed that if the duration of the prison sentences are lowered by the
federal and the state governments, a huge number of people would be benefited in future due
to the lesser duration of imprisonment which would captive a lesser number of people at
once. However such a preposition has a lesser chance to be accepted and transformed into a
policy to reform the criminal justice system in the US.
There are supportive studies that show 20 years to be a good cutoff duration for
setting the maximum sentence in a modern state. It has been seen that a person held guilty for
murder at the age of 20 has a lesser chance of repeating the same at the age of 40 after
serving a sentence of 20 years, thereby naturally reducing the number of offences and the rate
of imprisonment as well (Clear & Frost, 2015). However it cannot be evidently pointed out
that a lengthy imprisonment duration is the US is the major cause of mass incarceration.
Higher tendency of increased sentencing laws
It has been studied that the US judicial system has a tendency to offer a higher
sentence for the offenders in order to be stricter and more crucial than the other countries in
the world; for example the average sentence for a crime burglary in the United Kingdom is 7
months which is 16 months for the United States. Statistical report shows that the tendency of
the US judiciary is to deliver strict imprisonment sentences that are lengthy and often
unnecessary yet cannot be avoided due to the peculiarity in the criminal justice system (Clear
& Frost, 2015). The tendency of the judiciary to impose longer prison sentences on offenders
who are repeating their offences is also a common phenomenon in the US that increases the
rate of incarceration automatically. However to understand the tendency of the judiciary’s
reason behind imposing such lengthy imprisonment sentences need to be discussed.

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Economic condition of the offenders
It is evident that crime rates are much higher in low income area then and it is in the
middle or higher class area. Lower income group people are more vulnerable to crime and
crime related issues that usually push them to choose the unlawful path to resolve their
problems, defer unknowingly adding to the system’s tendency to impose a strict
imprisonment sentence, sometimes even without evaluating whether the offender was
committing the crime for the first time and had a valid reason behind his actions.
Drug related issues
Drug issue has been pointed out to be one of the most significant cause of
imprisonment in the US thereby increasing the rate of incarceration or present population.
Imprisonment due to offences related to drug is increasing every year thereby increasing the
rate of incarceration along with. As held by legal professionals, charges in relation to drugs
abuse accounts for more than half of the prisoners between the year 1985 to 2000, which is
approximately 1 in 10 Americans who are being imprisoned for drug abuse. Therefore it
could be stated that crimes related to drug and drug abuse has been a predominant factor for
fresh admissions into the prison over the years; more so after the passing of the Anti-Drug
Abuse Act in 1986. In the case of Kimbrough v United States, 552 U.S. 85 (2007), the courts
where vested with more discretionary power in terms of sentencing offenders.

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Figure source: Prisoners Series. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Racialization
Statistical reports show that the majority of the prison inmates in the US are black
people. Approximately one-third of black men around the age of 20 are either in prison or
probation or on parole (Dumont et al., 2013). Such high level of disproportionate
imprisonment based on racial discrimination towards black people has become a normalized
situation for the African American community. Statistical reports prove that African
Americans are more likely to be imprisoned than white men, precisely eight times more if it
is to be compared (Moore, 2017).

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Figure Source: Bronson J. and Carson, E.A. (2019). Prisoners in 2017. Washington,
DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Figure Source: Bronson J. and Carson, E.A. (2019). Prisoners in 2017. Washington, DC:
Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Privatization of prison
As reported by the American Civil Liberties Union, privatization of prisons and the
formation of for-profit prisons has been a major contributor in terms of mass incarceration
along with being a high revenue payer, thereby boosting the state budget (Eisen, 2017). It has
been evidently pointed out that imprisonment of the offenders are being used as a way of
business for the organizations that are running for-profit prisons as they may run into
bankruptcy if they do not get a steady supply of inmates (Chang, 2012). A report by

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Bloomberg in 2013 stated that with the advent of for profit prisons the country has witnessed
a rise in the number of inmates to around 44% (Newkirk & Selway, 2013). For-profit prison
companies like American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) strive to expand the scheme
of private prisons, thereby increasing the rate of incarceration where they are being helped by
the state governments by providing a regular supply of inmates (Aviram, 2014).
The above discussed factors are some of the major contributing causes behind mass
incarceration. However there are no proven factors that could be branded as the most
effective reason influencing the increase of prison inmates in the U.S.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Therefore to conclude, no one reason could be stated as the most contributing factor
behind the increase of prison inmates and mass incarceration, for each one of these are found
to be equal contributor to the issue. Lengthy duration of imprisonment it was however
pointed out by majority researchers and spokesman as a significant factor that contributes
majorly to mass incarceration which could be e checked and controlled by the legislature by
way of making relevant amendments to the criminal code that lays down the imprisonment
durations pertaining to specific crimes.
As a recommendation is it suggested that the government must take progressive steps
towards amending the harsh imprisonment durations by cutting them down to a margin which
is more humane than that is at present. Another recommended solution to to decrease
incarceration would be decriminalizing drug related issues and thereby handling them with
more compassion and an approach to rehabilitated the drug abuse rather than pushing him
into a dark cell that shows no reformatory way to change the nature of the person. Another
recent development for reducing mass incarceration is the prison abolition movement which
initially strives to reduce and subsequently eliminate public and private prisons. While the

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abolition movement is in course Education in prison would help to prevent reincarceration,
which would keep the inmates away from repeating their offences and therefore would stay
away from committing criminal offences again. In these many ways incarceration could be
checked and controlled.

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References
Anti-Drug Abuse Act 1986
Aviram, H. (2014). Are Private Prisons to Blame for Mass Incarceration and Its Evils: Prison
Conditions, Neoliberalism, and Public Choice. Fordham Urb. LJ, 42, 411.
Chang, C. (2012). Louisiana is the world’s prison capital. The Times-Picayune, 13.
Clear, T. R., & Frost, N. A. (2015). The punishment imperative: The rise and failure of mass
incarceration in America. NYU Press.
Dumont, D. M., Allen, S. A., Brockmann, B. W., Alexander, N. E., & Rich, J. D. (2013).
Incarceration, community health, and racial disparities. Journal of Health Care for the
Poor and Underserved, 24(1), 78-88.
Eisen, L. B. (2017). Inside private prisons: An American dilemma in the age of mass
incarceration. Columbia University Press.
Kimbrough v United States, 552 U.S. 85 (2007)
Moore, R. (2017). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness.
Macat Library.
Newkirk, M., & Selway, W. (2013). Gangs ruled prison as for-profit model put blood on
floor. Bloomberg Business, 12.

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Appendix
Figure 1
Prisoners Series. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Figure 2
Bronson J. and Carson, E.A. (2019). Prisoners in 2017. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice
Statistics
Figure 3
Uggen, C., Larson, R., & Shannon, S. (2016). 6 Million Lost Voters: State-Level Estimates of
Felon Disenfranchisement, 2016. Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project.