Josef Beall

ENGL 1010
Tyler Barnum

Literature Review on the Prison Industry

The prison industry has been criticized many different times over the past century.

While it is true that prisons are important and have served many positive purposes in society,

the same can be true for the opposite end of that spectrum. Several different scholars have

made it their mission to discuss some of these negative perceptions of prisons in America,

starting with the history of prisons and the enforcing of drug laws, the increase in prison

population based on these laws which discriminates individuals based on their race and political

viewpoints, and also the exploitation of these prisoners which in turn leads to more money for

the industry. In this literature review, these scholarly articles will be analyzed to further

understand the prison industry and exactly what the point is that these authors are trying to

convey.

Some of the first negative perceptions of prisons in America came about in the 1800s

and are explained in the article entitled Prison Labor Effects on Unskilled Labor Market,

where Frederick W. Derrick, Charles E. Scott, and Thomas Hutson describe the early effects that

the prison industry has had on society. They describe how politicians and other lobbyists were

very much against the thought of labor in prisons. They explain that these lobbyists were very

nervous of the fact that prisoners working could in fact effect the job market and make it

difficult for unskilled, law abiding citizens to find work. What Derrick, Scott, and Hutson arrive
to is the fact that the working prisoners will in fact become absorbed very easily by the U.S.

economy.

Another problem arose in the prison industry involving the number of African-American

individuals that entered prisons after slavery became abolished in the late 1800s. Many

individuals believe that this is a result of the government making up for slavery by forcing

prisoners to do the same work for little cost. In the article Incarceration: A Tool for Racial

Segregation and Labor Exploitation, scholarly writers Earl Smith and Angela J. Hattery reiterate

this thought. They explain how drug laws enforced by the government could have been strictly

designated for urban areas where African-American men and women are frequent. Since drugs

flourish in these areas, more African-American men are thrown into prison, which becomes an

alternative for slavery and also effects the democratic vote, in which the majority of African-

Americans do tend to vote democratic. In conclusion to both of the scholarly articles I have

discussed, the history of prisons in America has had many negative perceptions and rightfully

so, beginning with the worry about the unskilled labor workers job market, and continuing into

the present with the number of African-American convicts in prison.

Continuing with the narrative of the negative aspects of prisons in America, many

scholarly writers have discussed the negative impact of the growing prison population on

America. In the article The criminalization of immigration and the privatization of the

immigration detention: implications for justice, Alissa R. Ackerman and Rich Furman delve

deep into one of the many ways in which prisons are able to increase their overall population,
the criminalization of immigrants. They discuss in the article the different ways in which

different state governments employ laws to target these immigrants and their families and why

they would partake in this so called revoked justice. They explain how governments in many

different states participate in order to capitalize on their labor in prisons and to make a profit.

They continue by making the claim that these prisons could care less about these immigrants

and their families and are mainly focused on making a profit off of their incarceration. They

conclude their article by explaining how this very act of targeting these families is not only

inhuman, but is affecting the implications of justice in our country. This very act is only one of

the many ways the government is able to increase their prison populations in order to make a

profit.

Another major tactic by the government to increase prison population is by enforcing

more drug laws, in turn targeting African-Americans in rural communities. This issue is

highlighted mainly in the Incarceration: A Tool for Racial Segregation and Labor Exploitation

article, in which Hattery and Smith continually reiterate the fact that prisons are making a

tremendous profit off of African-Americans in prison by strictly enforcing these drug laws in

communities where it is very common. One of the other many reasons why the government

would go to such lengths could be to eliminate them from the job market entirely, requiring

them to work for the prisons and make a profit for them only, which Hattery and Smith

highlight continuously. They continue by stating that this exact action is leading to white males

becoming even more privileged in society by disenfranchising even the African-American

individuals who get out of prison, which in turn eliminates their right to vote for the rest of
their lives in some states. In conclusion, what these authors are connecting with is the very

simple fact that the act of increasing population in our prisons does not do anyone any good. It

destroys families, destroys the very individuals who become incarcerated and makes us

question the very ethics of our country.

Another very pressing topic among different people surrounding the prison industry is

money. Money is the most enticing aspect of the prison industry and also one of the most

scrutinized parts of the industry. Some of the many ways the government is taking advantage of

these prisoners is by getting them to make products for very cheap while not having to pay

them a dime in some cases. This subject comes up very frequently when discussing the case of

privatization of prisons, compared to the government run prison system we see the majority of

today. Andrei Shleifer discusses this exact topic perfectly in her article entitled State vs Private

Ownership, where she begins by giving a brief history of the prison industry and its dramatic

expansion over the last couple of years, and then comparing the two models to for individuals

to better understand them. She argues why privatized prisons are a better alternative than

having our prisons run publicly by the government. One reason why she believes this, is the

fact that privatized prisons profits would greatly exceed the profits being produced by the

government run prisons because they will be able to exceed their incentives for their

employees, which in turn will lead to greater innovation and a higher quality to which the

prison is being run.

 While you cannot deny the fact that privatized prisons would bring greater profit and

possibly a safer environment, at what cost when talking about human rights? As mentioned in

the Political Consequences of Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States article,

Christopher Uggen and Jeff Manza explain what exactly happens to these prisoners if they ever

become free. They explain in their article, that all of these inmates who walk out of prison

become disenfranchised, meaning that they no longer have the right to vote, either for a

certain period of time or even for the rest of their lives. When so much is being talked about

money in todays prison industry and how do we make more money with greater efficiency, we

are forgetting the obvious fact that these prisoners (most of them incarcerated for drugs) are

coming into a world where they basically have no rights left as American people. Not only does

there right to vote get taken away, but they have this on their record for the remainder of their

lives. As discussed in their article, Uggen and Manza discuss the astounding numbers of ex-cons

who are released from prison and then get convicted again. They expand on this notion by

explaining how most inmates that get released, have no way to find a job or get a job, so they

resort to the only thing that they know how to do, which is commit crimes. Uggen and Manza

continue this point by stating that they mostly end up committing these crimes to have a place

to sleep at night.

It has already been discussed on how privatized prisons might help us financially, but

what about morally speaking? This interesting aspect of the prison industry is expanded on in

the article, Selective Celling: Inmate Population in Ohios Private Prisons by Michael Hallet

and Amy Hanauer, showing the success and failures of multiple Ohio prisons. In this specific
article, Hallet and Hanauer deeply analyze the Northeast Ohio Correctional Facility and the

North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility how their failures as privatized prisons ultimately

lead to their demise. They continue their article by specifically analyzing the Northeast Ohio

Correctional Facility and how their very poor management and very subpar security ran them

into the ground. They then address the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility and how

their major administrative flaws were exposed along with their failure to address contract

violations. In these few instances, we are able to see in plain sight when morale and rights gets

the backseat compared to money and wealth. In one instance however, Hallet and Hanauer

analyze a very successful private prison that was run in Ohio. They continue to explain that this

prison was widely successful because of its low inmate population, and very strict qualification

which in turn made their job quite easy. This example that Hallet and Hanauer bring to light is

very eye opening. In one instance with regards to money, privatization of prisons seems like

the correct direction to go, but if we have wealth take a backseat to morals and human rights,

we can see that in not all instances is privatization the way to go. And if it is, then we need to

keep our morals in check.

With money being the driving force to everything that we do, the prison industry

becomes no exception. The connections that I believe these articles are attempting to reside

on is the fact that everyone needs to open their eyes to what is going on inside prisons.

Whether it is the drug laws which specifically are targeting certain groups of people in order to

remove them from society and consequently take advantage of their labor for their own

wealth, increasing prison populations around the country by hunting down immigrants and
leaving their families without them while also taking advantage of their labor, or completely

disregarding human rights and morals when it comes to the management of these prisons.

What these writers are trying to bring to light is the fact that we have a problem with the way

we handle criminals in this country. Hopefully in the future privatized prisons and government

run prisons can take their opinions into consideration, and we can begin to develop a

sustainable system that works.

 Works Cited

Ackerman, Alissa R. and Rich Furman. The Criminalization of Immigration and the Privatization

of the Immigration Detention: Implications for Justice. Contemporary Justice Review,

vol. 16, no. 2, 2013, pp. 251-263.

Chang, Tracy F. H. and Douglas E. Thompkins. Corporations Go to Prison: The Expansion of

Corporate Power in the Correctional Industry. Labor Studies Journal, vol. 27, no. 1,

2002, pp. 45-69.

Derrick, Fredrick W., Charles E. Scott and Thomas Hutson. Prison Labor Effects on the Unskilled

Labor Market. The American Economist, vol. 48, no. 2, 2004, pp. 74-81.

Hallett, Michael and Amy Hanauer. Selective Celling: Inmate Population in Ohios Private

Prisons. Policy Matters Ohio, https://www.policymattersohio.org/research-

policy/quality-ohio/corrections/selective-celling-inmate-population-in-ohios-private-

prisons. Accessed 5 Nov. 2015.

Schleifer, Andrei. State versus Private Ownership. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol.

12, no. 4, 1998, pp. 133-150.

Smith, Earl and Angela J. Hattery. Incarceration: A Tool for Racial Segregation and Labor

Exploitation. Race, Gender & Class, vol. 15, no.1/2, 2008, pp. 79-97.

Uggen, Christopher and Jeff Manza. Democratic Contraction? Political Consequences of Felon

Disenfranchisement in the United States. American Sociological Review, vol. 67, no. 6,

2002, pp. 777-803.