The crazy thing is that mass incarceration is relatively new in the US. Are Prisons Obsolete by Angela Davis was a real eye-opener for me.
Indeed. Before the massive explosion in violence and disorder the US pioneered in the 60s the First World was substantially more peaceful. Less need for incarceration with much lower rates of crime.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-u-s-murder-rate-is-...
It took until 1980 for incarceration rates to start their upward climb. Ten years is a remarkably long time for a doubling of murder rates to take to show up in imprisonment.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-imprisoners-dilemma...
This is extremely dubious. The vast majority of people in prison are not there for murder. From a search, 15% of people in prison have a murder on their record. It's not TV.