Motivating Factors Behind the Prison-Industrial Complex

Details: Parent Category: Criminal Justice and Racism; Category: Prison Industrial Complex and Mass Incarceration; 24 June 2012; Hits: 28541

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André Douglas Pond Cummings

For Complete Article See: André Douglas Pond Cummings, all Eyez on Me: America's War on Drugs and the Prison-industrial Complex, 15 Journal of Gender, Race and Justice 541 (Spring 2012) (152 Footnotes)

To answer the Why? question regarding the motivations behind the massive increase in incarcerated Americans, while crime rates are dropping precipitously, one must examine the underlying policies, structures, conflicts, and institutions that support the prison system in the United States. This analysis suggests that several constituencies benefit significantly from mass incarceration. One constituency consists of those who profit handsomely from an increase in American imprisonment. Another constituency includes those who gain power or electoral advantage from massively incarcerating Americans. This Part reviews corporate profiteers and political expediency as motivations underlying the prison-industrial complex.

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