Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Crime "Problem" and the Free Market "Solution" Chapter 3 The Big Government "Problem" and the Kentucky Fried Prison "Solution" Chapter 4 The Prison-Industrial Complex: Profits, Vested Interests and Politics Chapter 5 Confronting Problems: Blame Prisoners and Contracts Then Get A Bailout Chapter 6 A Critical Look at the Efficiency and Overhead Costs of Private Prisons Chapter 7 Conclusion Chapter 8 Appendix Chapter 9 References
Donna Selman is assistant professor of criminology and criminal
justice at Eastern Michigan University. She has contributed to the
book Battleground: Criminal Justice.
Paul Leighton is associate professor of criminology and criminal
justice at Eastern Michigan University. He is a co-author of Class,
Race, Gender, and Crime, and is the founder of StopViolence.com, a
resource for non-repressive responses to violence prevention.
Selman and Leighton have presented a cogent summary of the
connection between the free market mentality that dominates
American society and the use of imprisonment as a solution to the
problem of crime. As the authors show so clearly, while crime may
not pay, punishment certainly does, as it is a very profitable
enterprise. The methodology is unique, as they review Congressional
testimony, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and the
contracts of Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group
have made with state and local governments. This book will leave
its mark and future researchers on the American penal system will
have to use it as a major source.
*Randall G. Shelden, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, author of Our
Punitive Society: Race, Class, Gender and Punishment in
America*
With a reputation for pursuing social justice, Selman and Leighton
expose the realities and consequences of privatized prisons.
Punishment for Sale deserves to become standard reading for
professors, students, and activists concerned about the expanding
neoliberal campaign to outsource criminal justice
*Michael Welch, Rutgers University*
The dramatic growth of the US prison population in recent times has
been an especially noteworthy—and troublesome—development within
the criminal justice system. Although some criminologists believe
that the high level of incarceration has contributed to the
declining conventional crime rate since the early 1990s, other
criminologists have documented some of the harmful consequences of
this trend. Criminologists Selman and Leighton (both, Eastern
Michigan Univ.) focus upon the role of private prisons in'America's
incarceration binge.' Applying an analytical framework that comes
out of critical criminology, the authors systematically explore the
Reagan era origins of the increasing shift to the privatization of
corrections, the key factors contributingto its expansion, and the
consequences. The pursuit of profit in a 'prison-industrial'
complex does little to stop crime, but greatly amplifies injustices
imposed upon disadvantaged segments of society. The authors show
private prison industry executivesto be exorbitantly compensated
and accordingly highly motivated to promote by any means
possible—including harsh laws directed at immigrants and drug
users—the number of convicted offenders sent to prison. An
important and timely book. Highly recommende
*CHOICE, November 2010*
An important book that sheds new light. Using Congressional
testimony, SEC filings, and copies of actual contracts obtained
through the Freedom of Information Act, Punishment for Sale
documents the heedless profiteering of neo-liberal prison firms
that fails taxpayers, criminal offenders and the American people.
The explicit class analysis offered here, documents how the
AIG-style mentality of corporate America has once again capitalized
upon our refusal to honestly address the sources of crime,
prefering instead, to profit handsomely from its existence. As
Selman and Leighton so aptly put it: "In this case, the rich get
richer by way of the poor getting prison." Required reading.
*Michael Hallett, University of North Florida*
The dramatic growth of the US prison population in recent times has
been an especially noteworthy—and troublesome—development within
the criminal justice system. Although some criminologists believe
that the high level of incarceration has contributed to the
declining conventional crime rate since the early 1990s, other
criminologists have documented some of the harmful consequences of
this trend. Criminologists Selman and Leighton (both, Eastern
Michigan Univ.) focus upon the role of private prisons in
'America's incarceration binge.' Applying an analytical framework
that comes out of critical criminology, the authors systematically
explore the Reagan era origins of the increasing shift to the
privatization of corrections, the key factors contributing to its
expansion, and the consequences. The pursuit of profit in a
'prison-industrial' complex does little to stop crime, but greatly
amplifies injustices imposed upon disadvantaged segments of
society. The authors show private prison industry executives to be
exorbitantly compensated and accordingly highly motivated to
promote by any means possible—including harsh laws directed at
immigrants and drug users—the number of convicted offenders sent to
prison. An important and timely book. Highly recommended.
*CHOICE, November 2010*
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