Sociology 2256A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Convict Lease, Drug Liberalization, Totalitarianism
26 Apr 2015
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Document Summary
Success of war on drugs should not be measured by arrests or size of prisoner population. Influence of the for-profit prison industry on the government: mumia abu-jamal poor and powerless are the raw material, laws are not applied fairly, media/politicians want more people in prisons and try to convince people to better. Perpetrates social inequalities: u. s. highest incarceration rate, convict leasing: facilities lease convicts to plantation and factory owners. Beginning of the privatization of corrections: prisoner re-entry industry: post-prison services. Profit is the main goal: economic and political implications. Focus is on profit and lobbying support rather than treatment and other goals: not doing enough to help prisoners reintegrate into society (work, public housing, etc. ) Christie: crime control as industry: provides profit/distribution of wealth and access to paid work while enforcing social control, crime control is an industry. Industries have to be balanced: the size of the prison population is a decision that must be made.
