5.5b Incarceration
Arresting people and putting them in jail or prison is an example of formal social control. The United States is the world leader in incarcerating its citizens. The prison population increased during the 1970s due to the “war on drugs” and politicians’ desires to be “tough on crime.” Since 1980, the U.S. incarceration rate increased by 500% (The Sentencing Project, 2025), though these rates have declined by 20% since 2007 (Robey et al., 2023).
All fifty states have higher incarceration rates than most nations (Widra, 2024) (see Figure 5.10). Other countries with high incarceration rates, such as Russia, Belarus, and Azerbaijan, have higher violent crime rates, authoritarian governments, or recent armed conflict (Widra, 2024). In other words, the U.S. incarceration rate differs significantly from those of nations with similar governments and crime rates. The United States incarcerates 614 people out of every 100,000 people in the population. In comparison, the United Kingdom has an incarceration rate of 144 per 100,000 people.
Figure 5.10
Incarceration Rates in the United States and Other Democracies (Per 100,000), 2024
Data from Widra, E. (2024, June). States of incarceration: The global context 2024. Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2024.html. Copyright 2024 by Prison Policy Initiative.
Incarceration includes arrests, convictions, imprisonment, and other forms of confinement like probation.Scholars refer to the web of laws and practices (such as bail) combined with a criminal justice system that controls people long after their sentence has ended as mass incarceration (Alexander, 2012). In the United States, mass incarceration disproportionately affects Black people and American Indian/Alaska Natives (Figure 5.11). The government imprisons some groups at a higher rate than others. As a result, a much larger percentage of people who are Black or American Indian/Alaska Native are imprisoned compared to other racial groups. Black people make up 13.7% of the U.S. population but 32% of the federal prison population (Figure 5.10) (Carson & Kluckow, 2023; U.S. Census Bureau, v2024). In contrast, White people make up 58.4% of the U.S. population and only 24% of the federal prison population (Carson & Kluckow, 2023; U.S. Census Bureau, v2024).
Figure 5.11
U.S. Incarceration Rate (per 100,000) by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2012 and 2022
Data from Carson, E. A. (2024, October 15). Prisoners in 2022 — Statistical Tables. U.S. Department of Justice. https://bjs.ojp.gov/document/p22st.pdf. In the public domain.
There are multiple collateral consequences to arrests and convictions. Collateral consequences refer to the restrictions society imposes on people with a criminal record. For example, in many states, people with felony convictions lose the right to vote. As of 2020, 21 states prevented incarcerated individuals from voting; 16 states disenfranchised people who were in prison, on parole, or on probation; and 11 states restricted voting even after sentence completion (Uggen et al., 2020). Furthermore, felony convictions restrict access to public benefits, such as housing subsidies. Housing, however, may help prevent recidivism (or committing more crime). An arrest record also makes it more challenging to secure work and housing.