In much of the world, criminals get away with their actions at a much higher rate, so its not necessarily a sensible comparison. Compare the U.S. to the U.K., two culturally similar countries. The U.S. has a bit under 5x the incarceration rate. But it also has a bit under 4x the intentional homicide rate. Manchester, ostensibly the most dangerous large city in the U.K., had 35 homicides in the whole metro of 2.7 million people. Wilmington, DE has 20-25 in a typical year, for a city of 70,000 people.

So yeah, we put more people in jail. We also have more reason to.

Just a thought, isn't putting your criminals through your jail system at least partly to blame for your high level of homicide? I mean, I'm no expert but it would seem that if you brutalise people for infractions, then release them into a society that will not now employ them but has lots of guns, that perhaps it might make life a bit more dangerous for everyone?