6 ms·

> 1 in 3 adults—with criminal records I must admit I haven't ever thought about these numbers but it strikes me as insanely high. How can this be explained? Is

> 1 in 3 adults—with criminal records I must admit I haven't ever thought about these numbers but it strikes me as insanely high. How can this be explained? Is it a feature of just America or is it reproducible in other countries as well?

adventured 9y ago
This is from 2002, but it makes the point: "... that almost a third of men [in Britain] have a criminal conviction by the age of 30, according to the Home Office. Research on men born in 1953 showed that about 30 per cent had clocked up a standard list offence - one that is dealt with by the courts but excludes minor motoring offences - by their thirtieth birthday. Research in Scotland points in the same direction, suggesting that about 25 per cent of men have a record by age 24." https://www.theguardian.com/money/2002/apr/14/workandcareers.observercashsection https://www.theguardian.com/money/2002/apr/14/workandcareers...
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  Wow, and that was for people born in 1953(!!). The net cast by law enforcement has not gotten smaller since then.
  - justadeveloper2 9y ago
    It's easier to rule over people who live in fear, so just make more things illegal, process people through the system, and you get your total state without anyone raising an eyebrow.
    - RonanTheGrey 9y ago
      Oh they raise eyebrows. The kind that come along with thunderous applause.
danesparza 9y ago
Pretty sure it's uniquely a USA issue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_ra...
- RBBronson123 9y ago
  Right you are. The US has 5% of the world's population, and 25% of the world's incarcerated population. Per capita, more than China, Iran, N Korea.
  - adventured 9y ago
    In fact they're not right. The parent is confusing criminal record with incarceration duration. The UK has nearly just as high of a criminal record ratio among adult men for example. The difference is the US assigns far longer incarceration times for the same crime vs the UK. Further, Europe as a whole has a higher crime rate than the US does. [1] 70 million jobs has plenty of room for international expansion accordingly. "[2011] Contrary to common perceptions, today both property and violent crimes (with the exception of homicides) are more widespread in Europe than in the United States, while the opposite was true thirty years ago. We label this fact as the ‘reversal of misfortunes’." [1] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1889952 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1889952
    - RBBronson123 9y ago
      Great data. Thank you for sharing. The US is also the only country that employs solitary confinement for juvenile inmates.
    - HillaryBriss 9y ago
      Interesting paper. From the abstract: We find that the demographic structure of the population and the incarceration rate are important determinants of crime. Our results suggest that a tougher incarceration policy may be an effective way to contrast crime in Europe. if i'm reading that right, they're suggesting that European incarceration policies/rates/sentences (or something) are too lenient (?). so, Europe has the opposite problem when compared to the US?

adventured 9y ago

This is from 2002, but it makes the point: "... that almost a third of men [in Britain] have a criminal conviction by the age of 30, according to the Home Office. Research on men born in 1953 showed that about 30 per cent had clocked up a standard list offence - one that is dealt with by the courts but excludes minor motoring offences - by their thirtieth birthday. Research in Scotland points in the same direction, suggesting that about 25 per cent of men have a record by age 24." https://www.theguardian.com/money/2002/apr/14/workandcareers.observercashsection https://www.theguardian.com/money/2002/apr/14/workandcareers...

dsfyu404ed 9y ago
Wow, and that was for people born in 1953(!!). The net cast by law enforcement has not gotten smaller since then.
- justadeveloper2 9y ago
  It's easier to rule over people who live in fear, so just make more things illegal, process people through the system, and you get your total state without anyone raising an eyebrow.
  - RonanTheGrey 9y ago
    Oh they raise eyebrows. The kind that come along with thunderous applause.

danesparza 9y ago

Pretty sure it's uniquely a USA issue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_ra...

RBBronson123 9y ago
Right you are. The US has 5% of the world's population, and 25% of the world's incarcerated population. Per capita, more than China, Iran, N Korea.
- adventured 9y ago
  In fact they're not right. The parent is confusing criminal record with incarceration duration. The UK has nearly just as high of a criminal record ratio among adult men for example. The difference is the US assigns far longer incarceration times for the same crime vs the UK. Further, Europe as a whole has a higher crime rate than the US does. [1] 70 million jobs has plenty of room for international expansion accordingly. "[2011] Contrary to common perceptions, today both property and violent crimes (with the exception of homicides) are more widespread in Europe than in the United States, while the opposite was true thirty years ago. We label this fact as the ‘reversal of misfortunes’." [1] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1889952 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1889952
  - RBBronson123 9y ago
    Great data. Thank you for sharing. The US is also the only country that employs solitary confinement for juvenile inmates.
  - HillaryBriss 9y ago
    Interesting paper. From the abstract: We find that the demographic structure of the population and the incarceration rate are important determinants of crime. Our results suggest that a tougher incarceration policy may be an effective way to contrast crime in Europe. if i'm reading that right, they're suggesting that European incarceration policies/rates/sentences (or something) are too lenient (?). so, Europe has the opposite problem when compared to the US?