For the first time in the nation\u2019s history, more than one in 100 American adults is behind bars, according to a new report.<\/p>\n
Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million. Another 723,000 people are in local jails. The number of American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults is behind bars.<\/p>\n
Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 Hispanic adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 black adults is, too, as is one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34.<\/p>\n
The report, from the Pew Center on the States, also found that only one in 355 white women between the ages of 35 and 39 are behind bars but that one in 100 black women are.<\/p>\n
The report\u2019s methodology differed from that used by the Justice Department, which calculates the incarceration rate by using the total population rather than the adult population as the denominator. Using the department\u2019s methodology, about one in 130 Americans is behind bars.<\/p>\n
Either way, said Susan Urahn, the center\u2019s managing director, \u201cwe aren\u2019t really getting the return in public safety from this level of incarceration.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n