Case Interview: Sandra Nelson Of Coldwell Banker Realty In Prisons

What is the prison industrial complex? In what way does it play in the existence of what Dr. Michelle Alexander calls the New Jim Crow?

In 2011, I spent time serving in prisons with a church organization who’s goal was to change the systemic problems within the prison system. This caused me to examine all aspects of inequality and oppression that disproportionately affects people of color.

“One out of every 31 Americans (7 Million) are in prison, jail, or some other form of correctional supervision. A high incarceration rate in the United States has led to the prison-industrial complex, which has provided jobs and profits to legions of companies and people. The field of corrections is big business.”1 I believe that this fact is the best way in which to start my paper. The main idea of corrections, as the name suggests, is to correct the behavior that has caused an offender to stray from the straight and narrow. However, as our prison population grows and recidivism rates increase we are not only seeing our prison system fail, but we are seeing a new and emerging industry take hold in this country. Increasing prison populations and the number of re-offenders is showing a relatively obvious failure of the current system. In my time as a criminal justice major I have taken a variety of classes on criminal justice, one of the most interesting for me (aside from this class) was restorative justice. In my restorative justice class I was introduced to the idea that the criminal justice system was taking the conflict away from the victim and the community and was focusing too much on punishment and not enough on rehabilitation. I understand that some people feel that restorative justice is too lenient, that by allowing offenders to bypass jail restorative justice gives them a pass and allows them to basically get away with an offense, however restorative

Since 1984, the California Penal System has been forced to undergo drastic changes resulting from increased legislation aimed at increasing the severity of retribution to offenders leading to an exponentially increasing prison population. In the 132 years between 1852 and 1984, the state of California built twelve prisons, but has since supplemented the prison system with 21 new facilities. In 1977, the California Department of Corrections was responsible for 19,600 inmates. California’s inmate population now stands at 160,655, an increase of close to 800%.

Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) is a term we use to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to what are, in actuality, economic, social, and political "problems. Through its reach and impact, the prison industrial complex helps secure the authority of people who get their power through racial, economic and other structural privileges by defending current power distributions. It benefits government and industry, as well as those individuals who already hold power in our society. There are six components I believe contribute to the PIC. The components are criminalization, media, surveillance, policing, court system, and the prisons.

The privatization of prisons in America impacts the treatment of prisoners in a negative way. In 2008, there were 1,610,446 people imprisoned in the United States, Seven percent of those are in private prisons. It may seem like a small number, but inmate numbers are rising along with number of private prisons.

In the world today, the United States has 2.2 million people in jails or prisons, which is a 500% increase over the last thirty years. This makes the United States have the highest number of people who are incarcerated in the world today. One issue with the criminal justice system is the emergence of private prisons. In 2010, one out of every thirteen prisoners was being held in privately operated prisons (Mason, “Dollars and Detainees”). Private Prisons are prisons that are for profit which I find to be outrageous. There are many problems behind the model of private prisons. For example, the more inmates that are housed in the private facilities the more money the corporations make, therefore, these corporations want the inmates

Most people have or will know someone in their lifetime who spent or are spending time in jail or prison. The United States today makes up 5 percent of the world's population, yet holds 25 percent of the world's prisoners. To put that into perspective, it would take the prison population of both China, the largest nation on earth by population, and Russia combined to reach that of ours. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, for-profit companies were responsible for approximately 7 percent of state prisoners and 18 percent of federal prisoners in 2015 which are the most recent numbers currently available. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported that in 2016, private prisons held nearly three-quarters of federal immigration

President Obama has been on a mission to reform the United States Jails and Federal Prisons. The number of incarcerations have been on the rise since 1980 and it continues to quadruple. State and federal prisons are over crowed with non-violent offenses. With overcrowded jails it has caused the economy more money and created dangerous living environments. Instead of incarceration what should be given is a realistic alternative for their actions. The government will also spend less money.

America loves to claim they`re the beacon of freedom throughout the world and yet ironically, it has the highest prison population in the world. According the ACLU, America, which only makes up 5% of the world’s populace, holds nearly 25% of the world’s inmates, surpassing Russia. This doesn`t add up when compared to the statistics. If crime rate is at a low, why is the prison population so high? What is contributing to the mass incarceration across the nation? Well, with the evidence presented, it would appear that the private sector is the main contributor to this new American pandemic and more specifically, the privatization of prisons

James Neal, a prisoner in the Youngstown prison, built by the Corrections Corporation of America, (CCA) was forced to strip and parade naked in front of the female staff. He was even in his cell, accompanied by canisters of tear gas, which is supposed to be used for war. The medium security prison, which took maximum security, ended up with many escapees and deaths. More than 20 prisoners died in the first few months. Private prisons are helpful when storing prisoners and in conditions when the government is under budgets, but the prisoners are dying very fast and treated badly in the prisons (Bates).

In the previous section I described two personal traits that I possess and assessed how they would fit in a career as a senior case analyst. In this new section I will describe my interview with Thad Spiewak. I will explain what he believes are the two background experiences, two skill or abilities, and two personal characteristics that are required to get a job as a senior case analyst. I will then assess whether I match these.

Supervised over 975 inmates in a therapeutic community. Conduct inmate interviews, provide constant supervision and ensure the timely and orderly participation of group therapeutic sessions.. Assist treatment staff and counselors with transfers, evaluation, and processing of inmates. As the yard supervisor, prepare the inmates for medical and transfer transportation activities. Responsible for the health and well being of each and every inmate. Responsible for the entire inventory for all weapons assigned to the institutions armory. As the primary Field Training Officer for the shift assigned, my duties included, but was not limited to; managing, supervising, and certifying uncertified Corrections

The Prison incarceration rate has raised dramatically over the course of the last four decades. Some will say it’s due to an increase in property crimes, violence, the war on drugs, and over all criminal behavior. There are those who would say it’s not that at all, but a shifting with in our legal system to privatization of our prison systems. The question that is asked, “Should the corrections industry be for profit?” The answer is skewed with many opinions, and variable facts. Everyone involved has a certain agenda, and to support those

Today we will hear again the voices of 200 years ago to cure the affliction cast upon america's justice system by the greed of the powerful. Al Jazeera compares the private prison system to modern day slavery (Love, para 3). And they’re not wrong. Currently, as of reports in 2015 and 2016, these facilities house 7% of state prisoners and 18% of federal prisoners and three-quarters of federal immigration detainees, according to the ACLU (Private Prisons, para 1). With so many of America's imprisoned under their care they have done little but exploit and abuse their charges, The guardian reports rampant rape, assault, psychological torture, safety and health violations, starvation, deprivation, and the list of depravities continues (Filipovic, para 3). How is it that these facilities are