The American Prison

The United States has had a long and controversial history when it comes to the U.S prison system. Holding only approximately 5% of the global population; U.S prisoners account for almost 25% of the worlds prisoners, having even more than China; a nation with almost a billion more citizens than the U.S (PrisonStudies.org) Even when considering these alarming statistics, discussing the method of caring for, feeding, and rehabilitating prisoners in the U.S is often avoided as many United States citizens are uninformed on the subject. Perhaps because of this lack on information; certain states have begun handing over the responsibilities of running U.S prisons to private companies. These privately owned prisons are run by corporations; and

Almost two million men and women are held in prisons across the US. However, as each year passes more and more of these men and women are being held in privately run prisons. At first glance saving the U.S. government money through the use of private prisons might seem like a good thing, but as a whole these privately run prisons are hurting our country. Should the justice system really be something we should be turning into a business opportunity to make money? I believe the U.S. should stop giving grants to private prisons and instead use that money to expand and improve the public prison system. Moving towards private prisons is putting more money in the pockets of corporations and less money towards improving

If there is one thing that makes the world run efficiently, it’s money. Having money and adequate funds, leads to power and peace, no matter the business you’re in. This is no different in the correction industry, one of the least funded areas in the American government system. For as long as America has been founded, there have been a prison system. Granted early systems were horrendous and treated criminals as less than human beings, the modern prison system isn’t perfect either. Even after hundreds of years, the American prison system is flawed. Corrections industries do not communicate with each other causing disparity in the way places are run and which programs are truly helpful in getting people back into society successfully.

The “Prison Industrial Complex” was a term that was used by anti-prison activist within the prison abolishment movement to argue the attendant interest of prison industrialization, and t development of a minority prison labor force (Davis, 2003). This giant prison enterprise is an essential component of the U.S. economy, and has as its purposes such as profit, social control, and an interweaving of private business and government. These giant financial institutions recognized that prison building is one of the fastest growing industries and one of the best stock performers in the United States. The notion that global private cooperation’s currently rely on the prison complex as vital source of profit gives reason to believe that prison privatization trends of both the increasing presence of corporations in the prison economy and the establishment of private prisons connect to the historical efforts to create a profitable punishment industry based on free black male laborers.

Prisons seem to be everywhere. In this day and time it seems that they are housing inmates longer and longer. One prison that is known for having inmates for a very long time is the United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility, also known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or the Alcatraz of the Rockie. This prison is located in Florence, Colorado. In a weird kind of way, this prison is interesting. It has many things about it that separate it from other prisons.

Numerous prison sentences last several years; even taking decades of a person’s life, for countless people prison is the only life they are familiar with. The U.S. prison system is necessary; however, the current question is whether it is effective. The prison system should be reformed so that the prisons are not overcrowded and that prisoners have an improved quality of life in and out of prison.

During the time of my great grandparent first days, Bolivia tried to copy this constructing the national prison of San Pedro in the city of La Paz (political capital of the State), but there was a big gap between the system, the laws that they wanted to execute and the national reality; since the State did not have the disposition to assume the tutelage and forming and disciplinary responsibility of the prisoners, an oligarchical society that never ceases to criminalize indians, who are not recognized as persons with rights and that economically do not deserve any inversion from the justice system.

Because of this law, and the fact that it was pass under Bill Clinton administration, the prison population skyrocket in America personal increase by 1600% (13th).

With my last name starting with a W I had the option of choosing between four different chapters. Chapter 5 the Court System, Chapter 6 Jails and Prisons, Chapter 7 Probation and Parole, and Chapter 8 the Juvenile Justices System. This being a hard choice to narrow these four topics down to one I have decided to discuss Chapter 6 Jails and Prisons.

Prison, a place in which many of us fear. Our nation has came a long way with punishment for unlawful acts. We slightly drifted away from the death penalty and focused mostly upon prisons. It provides a great opportunity for inmates to reconstruct their life and prevent their further corruptive behavior.

Although the prison system was originally created to hold the menaces of our society and attempt to reform them to what we consider ideal citizens, todays private companies have created an alternative use for these prisoners which many consider a new form of slavery for the United States. Starting with the “Reagan revolution” which involved,” privatizing as many government activates as possible, based on an economic theory about free markets that contained assumptions that frequently did not match reality (Selman 9*).” This along with President Nixon’s “Law and Order” campaign helped usher in the idea of private prison due to the sudden influx of prisoners along with longer sentencing time for minor drug charges the reason for this decision

Crime and punishment has always been a part of society. Since the time of Cain and Abel, there has been a vicious cycle of crime, punishment, and vengeance. From damp dungeons to high tech super-max prisons, man’s fascination with punishment knows no bounds. However, history shows that there is a balancing act in the true purpose of prison. Prisons seem to fluctuate between the desire to reform and the desire to punish. Harsh punishments tempt man relax rules and stop any egregious acts against prisoners. Over time, the system moves more towards a reformation. An event will occur, such as a war or economic collapse, which will lead to the governing body to be stricter on crime, and thus shift more towards a punishment attitude. The system moves

Moreover, it is common for the convicts to simply have to survive through hard conditions, and prison staff who harass them in American prisons. Larson describes how the inmates do not receive the help they need, and how they walk out “with resentment at the destructive stupidity of the prison”. In the end, these emotions have more influence than the regret and shame to have violated the law. Additionally, American prisons create re-offenders rather than prevent the inmates from receding into old patterns (Larson 2013). In a research done by Keith Chen, and Jesse Shapiro they state that “harsher prison conditions lead to more post-release crime” (Chen, Shapiro, 2007). Similarly, Larson writes “the more closed a system is, the harder it will

The United States has the number one inmate population in the world, even surpasses the communist China. Referring to the statistics recorded by Bureau of Justice in United States, in the past thirty years, the number of inmates in United States has increased by 500%, and there is one in prison that is sentenced more than one year in every 200 people (Chinese). However, the rate of crime is increasing, but also the recidivism rate keeps increasing--- every three released inmates will have two be seized back (Chinese). Just as many other states, the inmate population in California States has been drastically increasing over the past twenty years. It has newly built twenty-one new prisons and holds an eightfold increased inmate population (Schlosser). Besides, the living condition in the prison in United States is extremely dangerous, since prison torture phenomenon is very common. According to the statistic the U.S. justice department obtained in December

Following the privatisation of the prison industry in the 1970’s, the prison population of the U.S. has increased by an estimated 500%. Despite this, statistics suggests that overall reported crime rates have remained relatively stable. (Fortner, 2013). A question is raised then, as to why incarceration rates would be on the rise despite little change in crime. This essay will attempt to answer this question and to make sense of the Prison Industrial Complex. It will also argue that the privatisation of the prison industry has resulted in the exploitation of incercerated offenders in order to increase capital. This will be achieved through a discussion of the background events which led to the emergence of the complex, followed by a description of the phenomenon itself. Following this, the intended and resulted outcomes of the Prison Industrial Complex will be analysed in order to aid in understanding the complex. Ultimately, this will lead to the conclusion that the Prison Industrial Complex can be understood through the devastating outcomes on the North American Society, with the needs to increase profits outweighing the need to rehabilitate offenders.