In criminal law, incapacitation is the act of rendering an individual incapable of committing future crimes. Historically, this was accomplished by either execution or banishment. In modern times, this is typically accomplished by incarceration, although capital punishment is still used in some cases.
For incapacitation to effectively decrease crime rates, it relies on the assumption that once an individual has committed a crime, they are more likely to commit another crime in the future.
Critics say that the United States criminal justice system is too focused on incapacitation which has resulted in the U.S. having one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world and an overpopulated prison system. Proponents of incapacitation argue that it is effective because a small number of offenders are responsible for a large number of crimes and by rendering those offenders unable to commit future crimes, many crimes are prevented.
For more on incapacitation see this University of Buffalo School of Law article, this Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law article, and this Virginia Law Review article.
See also: Statistics from the Department of Justice
[Last updated in July of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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