Mass Incarceration and Penal Rationalities: A Comparative Inquiry Between the United States and Italy

• In Event: Theorizing State Power: Comparative Studies of Policing, Punishment, and Penal Logic

Abstract

The United States has long been emblematic of mass incarceration, with over 1.9 million individuals currently detained and an incarceration rate exceeding 600 per 100,000 inhabitants. This penal model, rooted in retribution and deterrence, has disproportionately affected racialized and economically disadvantaged communities. Italy, by contrast, presents a markedly different legal framework, constitutionally oriented toward the rehabilitation of offenders (Art. 27, Italian Constitution). Yet, the country faces a chronic crisis of prison overcrowding, with over 60,000 individuals detained in facilities officially designed for less than 52,000, and persistent reliance on pre-trial detention.

This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of the penal rationalities underpinning incarceration in the United States and Italy. It explores how distinct socio-legal traditions and political cultures shape penal policy, the expansion or limitation of custodial sanctions, and the implementation of alternatives to imprisonment. Through this lens, the paper reflects on how both systems struggle—albeit differently—with the symbolic and material functions of incarceration. Ultimately, the research questions whether comparative engagement can illuminate shared contradictions in democratic punishment regimes, and whether normative commitments to rehabilitation can resist the global drift toward punitiveness.

Author

• Maria Di Maggio, University of Bari