Contrasting Sweden and the U.S.

Note the difference in incarceration between Sweden and the U.S.  Possible underlying causes include:

Where the United States was constructed on the backs of slaves, Sweden’s involvement with slavery was both short-lived and shallow.  They don’t have a large and desperate underclass.

Like the entire rest of the developed world, Sweden offers free healthcare and education to all citizens.  They don’t like the idea of masses of ignorant people wandering unproductively through their lives, while others die of treatable conditions because they can’t afford to seek medical attention.

They rank #7 in world happiness (vs. the U.S. at #18).

It could be that a society that takes better care of its people winds up with fewer of them behind bars.