Why are US incarceration rates so high?
In part because we have more crime than many developed countries, but not all. Here is total crime reporting rate per capita. Note: the reporting rate is not the same as the number of crimes, because people only report crimes when they trust the police to help them, #2 New Zealand: 105.881 per 1,000 people #3 Finland: 101.526 per 1,000 people #4 Denmark: 92.8277 per 1,000 people #5 Chile: 88.226 per 1,000 people #6 United Kingdom: 85.5517 per 1,000 people #7 Montserrat: 80.3982 per 1,000 people #8 United States: 80.0645 per 1,000 people #9 Netherlands: 79.5779 per 1,000 people #10 South Africa: 77.1862 per 1,000 people #11 Germany: 75.9996 per 1,000 people #12 Canada: 75.4921 per 1,000 people #13 Norway: 71.8639 per 1,000 people #14 France: 62.1843 per 1,000 people In part because we define more things as serious criminal behavior and have more effective law enforcement. In part because we give longer prison sentences for people who are convicted of a crime. Criminal activity is more p
