Mass incarceration: We're No. 1: There are far better ways to fight crime

For more than 30 years, the primary mechanism for crime fighting in the United States has focused on building and expanding the capacity of our prison systems - a phenomenon visible at federal, state and local government levels (with more cells and larger budgets). As scientists, we can spout endless grim statistics - the U.S. incarcerates more people per capita than any other country, including Russia and China; one in 23 American adults 18 to 65 years old is on probation or parole; one in 28 children has a parent behind bars; and a male born today is likely to be involved in the justice system at alarming rates, including one in three African-Americans, one in six Hispanics, and one in 13 Caucasians.


This translates into a runaway incarceration system that does not deter criminal behavior. Scientists have confirmed the themes of James Cagney movies that incarceration creates "schools for learning criminal behavior."

Single bullet, "get tough" policies have propelled the number of crimes that are eligible for incarceration, as well as increased sentence lengths. Crimes like driving on a suspended license, shoplifting goods worth $50, not paying speeding tickets or parking violations, or bouncing a check qualify for incarceration. While we think that incarceration with longer sentences is the simple solution, the overuse and reliance on prison and jail has reduced the effectiveness of it. Incarceration consumes resources that could be spent on schools, health care, parks, and roads. A more effective crime prevention policy would include:

-More drug and alcohol treatment, including rarely used medications to reduce crime and its costs. Those involved in the justice systems have four times the problems with drug and alcohol abuse than most adults. Few get access to treatment. Both driving while intoxicated and various forms of possession or possession with intent to distribute illicit drugs remain the highest arrest categories - the system is full of people with drug and alcohol problems. The criminal justice system pays little attention to substance abusers.

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