EASY ASSIGNMENT!

Incarceration Rates in United States Compared to Other Countries

The term mass incarceration is coined to define an upsurge in the sum of individuals confined to correctional facilities over the last 40 years. Certainly, the number of prisoners has amplified extremely since 1970. This can be largely been credited to the political shift that took place, assisted by civil movements and increased numbers of joblessness. However, is this the same for different parts of the world?

For the last forty years, the imprisonment development in the United States has enlarged extremely to levels described as historically unprecedented and globally unique. Reports indicate that in 2008, incarceration was three and a half times the rate in 1973 and that by 2013, prisons in the United States had grown to 2.23 million people. Currently, the United States of America has by far the highest number of incarcerations in the world. While other western nations average 100 persons per 100,000, the United States average is 7 times more at 707 people per 100,000 persons (Travis, Western, & Redburn, 2014). This means that this country that has a total of five percent of the world’s populace with 25% of the world’s population imprisoned.

I would like to conduct research to compare the incarceration rates in the United States to other correctional facilities (local, state, and federal) around the world. I believe that this is a social problem that requires immediate attention.

Reference Travis, J., Western, B., & Redburn, F. S. (2014). The growth of incarceration in the United States: Exploring causes and consequences.