The Prison Industrial Complex

Some people may not know what a Prison Industrial Complex is. The official google definition for it is The term "prison–industrial complex" (PIC) is used to attribute the rapid expansion of the US inmate population to the political influence of private prison companies and businesses that supply goods and services to government prison agencies. Prison systems make money off the prisoners. The more prisoners they have more money they make. Prisons are private institutions. Prisoners get charged per day for phone calls and things and they also work for free. Prisons should be banned because instead of it being a correctional facility it is a business that makes money over inmates. African Americans play a huge role in one of the mass

currently has the highest imprisonment rate per capita of any country in the world, and although we have about four percent of the global population, we have twenty-two percent of all prisoners. However, it has not always been this way; as only three decades ago our prison population was one eighth of its current size. This unparalleled growth of the prison system has forced America to create a vast prison industry that has become increasingly reliant on private capital. This prison industrial complex has not only turned imprisonment into a profitable business but also reinforced racial disparities in America. The argument that capitalism in this context undermines our democratic values rests of three key points: Firstly, that drug enforcement is racially biased, secondly that private capital has become enmeshed in incarceration industry and thirdly that prison labor is becoming increasingly connected to the United States Economy.

More people have been locked up in the United States than any other country. In the article “Prison Industrial Complex Economics”, it states, “the United States has approximately 6.5 million people under the criminal justice supervision. Incarcerated rate has grown from 176 in 1973 up to 700 in the year of 2000” (Waquant). Incarceration is a big business that feeds into drug violence, corrupted guards, and racism in criminal justice system, taxpayer cost, and racism in the criminal system and through privatization of prisons.

At the expense of the young, to the detriment of the poor, and on the backs of the immigrants is the means by which the private prison companies have constructed a business that trades freedoms for profit but more concerning is to what ends these freedoms are being exchanged. The advancement of the private prison system has changed the face of the prison industry as we know it. Because little attention has been given in the media to the private prison industry, they have been able to expand their influence and their revenue by means the average American would consider unscrupulous. Private prisons came about to act as the solution to a problem facing federal prisons, overcrowding, which was created due to the war on drugs, but in acting as a solution to one problem they created another one that could be more problematic than the one it intended to fix. Proponents of private, for profit, prisons claim that it is a better alternative than federal prisons because they can provide the same service for less and save taxpayers money in the process. They also contend that the service they provide would help to stimulate the economy. However, privatization of America’s prison systems will contribute to an increase in the incarceration rate and unfairly target certain demographics of the population, which could lead to psychological trauma affecting the people of those demography’s that it

Whenever you imagine prison, you think up ideas and violent images that you have seen in the movies or on TV.   Outdated clichés consisting of men eating stale bread and drinking dirty water are only a small fraction of the number of horrible, yet “just” occurrences which are stereotypical of everyday life in prison.   Perhaps it could be a combination of your upbringing, horrific ideas about the punishment which our nation inflicts on those who violate its’ more serious laws that keeps people frightened just enough to lead a law-abiding life. Despite it’s success in keeping dangerous offenders off the streets, the American prison system fails in fulfilling its original design of restoring criminals to being productive members of society, it is also extremely expensive and wastes our precious tax dollars.

In the beginning of the chapter, Davis introduces us to the term “prison industrial complex”. The prison industrial complex refers to the idea that prisons are filling up due to businesses seeking profit and not because crime was increasing. This term is important because it is a fundamental part of Davis’s argument. The transition of prisons from a government owned

The U.S. prison system is one of many great controversies when compared to other correctional systems. America’s prison population has increased by 700% (2.4 million current inmates) since the start of the war on drugs in 1971. As a result of this “war”, people that fall into the racial minority have suffered as a direct consequence of unjust legislation. Our prison system is known for its overrepresentation of minorities such as Blacks and Hispanics. This unfortunately gives these groups of people a perennial negative stigma as a result. I argue that the U.S. prison industrial-complex emphatically displays signs of prejudice and racism and disproportionately incarcerates people of color at a rate higher than whites. Yes, there are skeptics who think “the left’s prison-complex” is wrong about their theory of mass incarceration but the statistical data and concrete facts in support of my argument are very compelling.

The industrial prison complex has divided America into two groups; those who are oblivious to the industry and prison abolitionists who are advocating for reform or the complete abolition of the industry. With prisons being so integrated in American society, it is hard for oblivious citizens to see the problems with the prison industry. The media uses television shows such as Orange is the New Black and Prison Break to normalize prisons in America. Prison abolitionists want the industrial prison complex abolished for an array of reasons that end in true equality for citizens. The social injustices explained earlier are reason enough to call citizens to action against the industrial prison complex.

The first trend of ideological imperatives began in the late 1950's and continued to grow into the late 1970's as the public lost trust in the government. It is estimated that public trust of the government in this era declined from 80 percent in the 1950's to 33 percent by the late 1970's (Logan, 1990). This lack of trust in the government allowed for the ideological movement toward privatization. The problem with this ideological desire to take prisons away from the government and turn them over to private corporations is the basic fact that the government is the one that sentences people to prison and should be the one responsible for taking care of these inmates. By turning this care over to private corporations an ethical and legal nightmare can and has developed.

On July 13th, 2015, President Obama granted clemency to 46 prisoners, facing decades of prison time for low-level non-violent drug offenses. Obama said the nation is spending too much money on incarceration of individuals who received long sentences for relatively minor drug crimes, and so by granting amnesty to these 46 prisoners, he hopes to push the drive towards prison reform.

Currently, many prisons are beginning to be run by private corporations. If a company is running a prison then they need prisoners to stay in business. Around 1 in every 107 Americans is currently being housed in a prison. The United States has about 5 percent of the world’s population yet 25 percent of its prisoners(ACA, 2008). This is the easiest way to maintain a large prison population is by maintaining the current drug war. The largest private prison company in the United States is Corrections Corp. of America(ACA, 2008). In the last twenty years, CCA has donated nearly $5 million dollars to certain political

Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) is a term we use to depict the interests of government and industry that utilization observation, policing, and detainment as answers for what may be, in fact, monetary, social, and political "issues. Through its range and effect, the jail modern complex secures the power of individuals who get their energy through racial, monetary and other auxiliary benefits by shielding current power conveyances. It benefits government and industry, and in addition those people who as of now hold control in our general public. There are six segments I trust add to the PIC. The segments are criminalization, media, reconnaissance, policing, court framework, and the detainment facilities.

The Prison Industrial complex is a term that explains the interest of government and industry, that utilize observation, policing, and detainment as answers for financial, social and political issues.

Michel Foucault is a very famous French intellectual who practiced the knowledge of sociology. Foucault analyzed how knowledge related to social structures, in particular the concept of punishment within the penal system. His theory through, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, is a detailed outline of the disciplinary society; in which organizes populations, their relations to power formations, and the corresponding conceptions of the subjects themselves. Previously, this type of punishment focused on torture and dismemberment, in which was applied directly to bodies. Foucault mentions through his literary piece, “the soul is the effect and instrument of a political anatomy: the soul is the prison of the body (p.30). However, today, the notion of punishment involves public appearances in a court and much more humane sentences. However, it is important to note and to understand the idea of power and knowledge; it is fundamental to understand the social system as a whole.

With the highest prison population in the world, the United States utilizes both public and private prison systems to house its prisoners. The privatization of prisons has caused significant controversy regarding the quality of these private prisons compared with that of public prisons. Because private prisons are run by for-profit corporations rather than a government department such as the Federal Bureau of Prisons, some believe that these prisons have no incentive to rehabilitate prisoners and cannot be held to the same regulations and standards. However, there is also evidence that a private prison system bolsters the economy by creating tax revenue and jobs and reduces costs. With the privatization of prisons becoming an increasingly relevant issue in politics, it is crucial that citizens are informed of why private prisons exist and the pros and cons of both systems.