edwardspoonhands did a really good video a while ago on mass incarceration in the US that I was recently reminded of. Ā Its really informative and well done and only about 4 minutes long
Basically, the United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, but is still not more effective in reducing crime. Ā Additionally, the US focuses much more on punishing prisoners than rehabilitating them, so many continue to commit the same crimes after being released. Ā There are also issues of racism in the justice system, especially in drug sentencing.
Here are some more links to articles about incarceration in the US
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rateĀ - mostly statistics, but also some information on the causes of the high incarceration rate
http://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/Ā - discusses individual states more in depth and compares US incarceration rate to that of other countries
http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheetĀ - causes and effects of mass incarceration and discussion of racial disparities















