by Tealyn Wendler
How much does it cost to provide essential needs to a human for a duration of time? Primarily the question for prisons/jails nationwide is, how much money is equivalent to sustaining a human life? When providing care for humans who have broken the law, in a system that grows income from their criminals activity, that care can mean the bare minimum in some cases. In America especially, this creates room for extreme misconduct. Considering our prison population rate of roughly 700 per 100,000. This is the second-highest of 222 countries tracked by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Nearly one out of every 100 American adults is behind bars. These numbers are only increasing due to the large profits investors are making on these facilities. In 2014, private correctional facilities were a $4.8 billion industry, with profits of $629 million, according to market research firm IBISWorld. It costs an average of about $81,000 per year to incarcerate an inmate in prison in California. Less than $3.00 each day is spent on meals for each prisoner, but this can vary state to state. Unfortunately we are living in a world in which people are profiting off the captivity and not the rehabilitation of other humans.
Under such conditions, the system has been bound to create a cycle in which once a citizen is released back into society, the chances of their return multiplies instantly. This is called recidivism. By definition means, “A person’s relapse into criminal behavior, often after a person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime.” For people who have invested into private prisons, or have gone as far as owning several in a region, this is a benefit. They are increasing revenue every single time someone is incarcerated. In some cases they can actually make money throughout a person's lifetime. As they are stuck in this pattern created by the systematic oppression and ignorance of the federal government.
At the same time these systems are the downfall of our physical life, they are also the cause of mental deterioration for people who are already troubled and struggling to find the right path. In facilities nationwide there is overcrowding, various forms of violence, enforced solitude, lack of privacy, lack of meaningful activity, isolation from social networks, insecurity about future prospects, and lack of motivation. However, the negative effects do not correlate with the amount of money being made and spent on prisons and jails. Shouldn’t these places be taking steps to help these people grow for themselves and for the betterment of the overall country? Yet it seems that our goals have been skewed by the relentless craving we have created, for money. For example the Correctional Corporations of America operates the fifth largest prison system, public or private. Under CCA’s control are 51 owned-and-operated facilities in 16 states and contracted management of 18 more state-owned facilities in 7 states. “This network allows CCA to maintain a 44% stake in the $7.4 billion private corrections market for a market cap of $3.53 billion. All of this equates to a massively profitable operation for CCA who recorded $1.64 billion in revenue.” According to CCA, Vera Institute of Justice, and University of Chicago Crime Lab. As a Nation we need to do better, the way you are acquiring your income matters, it affects people and their lives. What morals are we willing to put aside for the chance to make money? Is a question many are too quick to answer.
Works Cited
“How Do Prisons Affect the Places We Live? Read More to Find Out!” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/prison-economy-how-do-prisons-affect-the-places-we-live/#:~:text=Prisons can stimulate the economy,loom monolithically over our lives.&text=Private correctional facilities were a,to market research firm IBISWorld.
Kincade, Brian. “The Economics of the American Prison System.” SmartAsset, SmartAsset, 21 May 2018, smartasset.com/mortgage/the-economics-of-the-american-prison-system.
Ryan, Jacob. “10 Takeaways From Frontline's Look at Criminal Justice and Louisville's Beecher Terrace.” 89.3 WFPL News Louisville, 11 Nov. 2015, wfpl.org/10-takeaways-frontlines-look-criminal-justice-and-louisvilles-beecher-terrace/.
Wow, I've never thought about prisions in this perspective and how peopl can profit off of them. My one question is, where does the money come from? And how much are people profitting off of it? I just think it's a crazy concept that people are profitting off of people that are being put into captivity. Anyways, you did a great job with this blog post and really educated me on something that I would have never known.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting read. I had never thought that prisons could actually benefit others to make profit off of them. You did a great job showing what an actual prison would be like, but also the fact that people are profiting from them. It's weird to think that people are making money off of people being held within a prison. Do you think that this profit is beneficial in the long run, or that there should be no profit made off of prisons?
ReplyDeleteThis is such an important thing to talk about, as I feel like not many people see prisons this way. I also think its messed up that instead of helping people and giving them resources to better them selves while in prison they are doing the bare minimum for them because they just want to make money. It's kinda sad how much our world revolves around money. Great work Tealyn this is a really eye opening blog.
ReplyDeleteThis was very well written and the rhetorical question at the end really leaves people thinking. If I am being completely honest, I have never even thought about the amount of money that has been put aside for people who are incarcerated. These people should be going to therapy to try and get their lives back on track instead of barely surviving and then coming back to jail. Just because someone goes to jail, doesn’t mean their life is ‘over,’ they should try and do their best to keep their life together after.
ReplyDeleteWow. It was shocking that prison’s are paid $60,000 per year to support an individual inmate, when the average income per capita in America is around $63,000. Especially, since prisons are publicly owned (run by the government). Do you think that more money should be spent per prisoner, or the money should be allocated differently. As well, based on what you said, it seems like more money should be allocated towards rehabilitation towards each inmate.
ReplyDeleteThis blog really taught me about something I was not educated on before reading it. It is really interesting to me that people can profit off of prisons. It is crazy to me that one out of every 100 adults goes to jail. I also really liked the picture that you used to help describe your blog. I like how it shows how a prison continues by people constantly coming in and out of jail systems. Great job on your blog as it taught me how prisons make money as I never would have thought about it.
ReplyDeleteI always thought of a prison where you just sit in a cell and wait until you get bailed out. But to think about prisons where people can make profit out of, is just crazy. In this world, it's something different with rules that we never knew about. I feel that in blog that I have read, it made me learn something that I would never think about.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of prisons from a money stand point, so that was interesting that you brought that up. It's sad that any prison would want to invite more people in just for the money especially with how harmful they can be to a person's mental health. You bring up a good point in bringing up that prisons could really take a toll on people's mental health and, as you said, they are already struggling to find the right path. It sounds like there needs to be some work done with how prisons treat their prisoners. How do you think this problem should be solved?
ReplyDeleteNot only does Tealyn explain the problem she goes further in dept about what needs to happen. Although these inmates deserve to be in prison, it doesn't make them any less human than anyone else. They still deserve to be fed properly and given the same chance as everyone else in there. For me personally, there should be a system where the prisoners are rewarded for good behavior or progress and punished for misbehavior, this can be done by cutting back how much money food is spent on them. It should show progress and create the jail environment safer because there will be a drive to want to get more food. There can be a starting point for everyone that enters and they can go down the scale or up. Of course there are boundaries where they aren't allowed to eat anything, so instead only give them rice. This is just a solution I thought of and in no means should it be the one to use. Overall, Tealyn made her essay easy to understand and it helps spread awareness for those being treated unfairly on a scale of being able to eat.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting topic. I've never though how prisons affect the economy. And not only do you explain the problem, you give some insight on how it needs to be fixed. You include a really insightful graphic. How do you think profit on prisoners would be changed if it wasn't a loop around in and out for most peoples lives? If it was a one time thing for everyone?
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting because I never understood how the prisons were funded or even how they worked, so when you said there were privately owned prisons that were making a profit, I was surprised because I never really thought that could be a thing. I wonder if with the pandemic, will they try to keep the cycle going and keep people coming back their entire lives, or will they try and keep them out and get them the assistance they may need depending on what the crime was?
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about how a prison could be affecting the economy, I always just thought of them as these things governments use. It's easy to see a prison and think that all people locked up must be bad people, but it might be the prisons themselves that are keeping these people in this bad cycle. And even if they do get out, they might not be able to hold a job. If this happens to enough people, the amount of homeless people could start to rise.
ReplyDeleteWow this was a good but interesting read. You'd never think that prisoners take so much money. All i thought was that they sit in a cell but they get so much more. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think that once someone is let out of prison they have a better chance to get back in. In Denmark and Sweden they have far lower crime rates because over there prison is about rehabilitation, and it’s proved to work far more effectively then what we have going on over here. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you can make money from locking people up in prisons. Its crazy that this is possible and didn't look at it this way before and ths blog helped me better understand what is going on with this topic.
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ReplyDeleteHey Tealyn,
ReplyDeleteI think this was an interesting approach to talking about this crisis. I fully agree with you that something needs to be done to lower the percentage of re-incarceration, but I don't feel like viable plans are being talked about by legislation. It intrigues me that nearly it costs nearly 81,000 dollars per year per inmate in California when many residents don't even make that in a year. It's understandable that some of that money goes to facility and paying for workers, but it seems like there is still a huge gap in what's happening to this money. Maybe I just need to do more research, but it's clear that this prison system, much like the college system has turned into a business. Prisons don't actually care if you get better just as schools don't really care if you can't afford school, they just want your money. In my opinion, it might be beneficial to take the approach of other countries incarceration system where they're apartment styled dormitories meant to rehabilitate its occupants, not like the tiny cells in our country. Though this might cost more in the short-run, it might be more beneficial to our economy in the long run because rehabilitated inmates will actually be able to contribute to society after serving their time.
This is a really piece. I have never really thought about the economic effects that comes with prison incarceration. Its interesting to see that the number of people going into prison begins to increase, which leads to people profitting more off the expense of prisoners.I wonder if there can be any money spent for rehabilitation of prisoners while also benefitting the people who make profit off the captivity of prisoners. I'm also considering whether or not spending should be increased on prisons, since their meals cost at low prices and perhaps to help with the mental deteriation of prisoners. The prison system is an unfortunate one to work with, but its impossible to work around it seems.
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