During the course of the U.S. prison buildup and even toward its end, many criminologists predicted that the buildup would be extremely difficult if not impossible to implement, and that they expected a crisis of order exemplified by high rates of riots, violence, and escapes. Criminologist John Hagan warned that “increased imprisonment will lead to more disruptions and riots in prisons.” Based on this prediction, as well as a belief that prison does little to reduce crime, Hagan advocated that we should “have as few of these inherently unstable institutions as possible.” Similarly, Thomas Blomberg and Karol Lucken cautioned that we reap what we sow, now and into the future:

At least during the buildup period, no one could have known what would happen behind bars as the number of prisoners climbed toward, and eventually surpassed, the 1 million mark.