ABSTRACT
This study examines eight rival hypotheses concerning determinants of state incarceration rates in 1984 Multiple measures of crime, economics, social characteristics, demographics, ideology and culture, sentencing and parole reforms, alternatives to corrections, and institutional conditions are evaluated in light of their ability to account for cross-sectional variation in incarceration practices. Initially the analysis reveals that all eight hypotheses are associated with imprisonment. However, in light of statistical controls, the explanatory power of most variables is greatly diminished or found to be indirect rather than direct The two factors having the greatest directimpact on incarceration are crime and culture.
