Incarceration Nation

¿What % of Americans are imprisoned?

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1. How accurate was your prediction?

2. What story does the chart tell?

3. What questions does the chart raise for you?

4. From 1970 to 2010 the incarceration rate more than quadrupled. Why do you think that happened?

5. What are two consequences/costs of having such a high rate of incarceration?

6. Where do you think the incarceration rate will stand in 2050?

7. If you thought the US incarceration rate was too low or too high, what action could you, as a citizen, take to try to change the incarceration rate?

8. The numbers say that about half a percent of Americans will end up imprisoned. That's about one person per every 200 people you know. Do you think that will hold true for your school, your friends, your neighborhood? 

9. It's your turn to infographic! In the comments section below, share a topic, question, or link to a chart, map, graph that you think would make an interesting infographic. For example, I'd like to know how this increasing incarceration rate has affected crime rates. Maybe you have a question about the racial or gender composition of the incarcerated population. Maybe you'd like to know how our incarceration rate compares to other countries. Or maybe you'd like to recommend a great infographic on the rising cost of college. Please share your thoughts, questions, and comments in the comments section below:

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Extension

Try to understand the roots of contemporary mass incarceration by reading an excerpt from the introduction of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow.

Signing a petition is one of the most common forms of political participation in the US.  Change.org allows you to create petitions to create change. Make a petition about incarceration, post it on change.org, and share a link to the petition on the comments section.  Make a good enough petition and you might just make a change!