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May 13th, 2008

"2.3 million Americans Behind Bars"

The United States ranks as having less than five percent of the world’s population, but recent reports have shown that the U.S. is home to the highest number of prisoners in the world.

Many believe that this newly revealed statistic is a clear reflection of the American approach to crime and punishment. The U.S. government has been criticized for imprisoning citizens for petty crimes, whereas other countries are more lenient with their laws and restrictions.

Petty Crimes, Lengthy Sentences

Citizens of America are locked up for a variety of crimes including writing bad checks and illegal drug use. In other parts of the world, these types of crimes would rarely produce a prison sentence.

Those punished in America also tend to be imprisoned for far longer than those living in other countries. Criminologists and legal scholars say they are “mystified and appalled” by the number and length of prison sentences in the U.S.

Prison Statistics

According to statistics, 2.3 million people living in the U.S. are currently behind bars for a variety of crimes. Broken down, there are about 751 people in prison for every 100,000 in the total population.

In comparison, China, which is four times the size of the U.S., has 1.6 million people imprisoned. The average amount of prisoners in most countries is 125 for every 100,000 in the population, which is only a sixth of the American rate.

Reasons Behind the High Prison Rate?

Criminologists and legal experts believe that there are a number of things that account for the high prison rates in the U.S. including:

• Higher levels of violent crime
• Harsher laws in regards to sentencing
• Legacy of racial turmoil
• Lack of social safety net

Level of Crime Questioned

Aside from the laws that distinguish the U.S. from other countries, experts are also questioning how effective this high number of prisoners is on the actual level of crime in the country. Imprisonment is supposed to act as a deterrent to crime, though it seems not to be the case in the U.S.

Marc Mauer, the executive director of the Sentencing Project, claims, “The assault rate in New York and London is not that much different. But if you look at the murder rate, it is higher in America.”