America’s incarceration rate is in decline

Is it possible that incarceration had the intended effect? Did an entire generation grow up seeing their fathers and uncles locked up and decide that there must be a better way?

there is no research to support the notion that mass incarceration leads to a reduction in crime; full stop.

I would argue that not having a male role model in your life is way worse than seeing the consequences enacted on another.

This even if their was a gain from watching others suffer, the lack of discipline, guidance, sternness, is way more detrimental than the positives of fearing the consequences

The scholarly debate is over how large and how lasting the effect is, not whether any evidence exists.

Is it not that studies show how mass incarceration increases likelihood of children to be offenders, not make them less likely to do so?

e.g., an incarcerated parent before the age of 12 increases the chances of being in jail after 18 by 230%

I genuinely don’t recall anything to support the idea that incarceration decreases crime, in general, at all…

Absolutely not at all. I have a lot of experience with the justice system and I can tell you that incarceration has almost no positive benefits for those that are redeemable.

And for those who cannot function in the real world (i.e. serious untreatable mental problems resulting in constant criminality) we need to find a softer way to keep them separated from being able to harm the public.