Determination of Predictors of the Total Incarcerated Population in the U. S. Using Regression Analysis

The present analysis attempts to show if race is a predictor of the total amount of incarcerated individuals in the U.S. alongside some other potential predictors. Since the 1980s, incarceration rates in the United States have steadily increased. While the United States has about 4% of the world's population, it has about 22% of the world's incarcerated population. When the races of these jailed populations are broken down by state, it becomes clear that minorities are incarcerated at substantially higher rates than Whites. Some may argue that a person's race plays a role in whether or not they have bad experiences with police, get arrested, and convicted. In this study, regression analysis was used to analyze multiple possible predictor variables of the total incarcerated population in the U.S. to see which, if any, are significant predictors. We can conclude that there are multiple factors that influence the total amount of individuals incarcerated in the United States. Amongst these factors are an individual’s race, financial health, and the health of the economy. Further research on the rates of different types of crime would need to be conducted in order to make any further assumptions.