Private prisons, the criminal justice-industrial complex and bodies destined for profitable punishment
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2018
Department/School
Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology
Publication Title
Routledge handbook of critical criminology: Second edition
Abstract
Privatization refers to outsourcing government functions to private, usually for-profit business under a contract. The aggregate of businesses that profit from criminal justice expenditures is the criminal justice-industrial complex. Although criminologists do not often follow the money trail to understand criminal justice policy, firms that make money from the current system have revenue streams they want to protect - and enhance. This dynamic is a problem when businesses make a profit from policy and practices that are marked by many injustices, especially by targeting the poor and minorities. Indeed, businesses lobby and make political donations to influence public policy in ways that privilege their profitability over the public interest and requirements of justice. Such distortions can be substantial when expenditures for criminal justice and security are hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
Link to Published Version
Recommended Citation
Leighton, P., & Selman, D. (2018). Private prisons, the criminal justice-industrial complex and bodies destined for profitable punishment. In W. S. Dekeseredy & M. Dragiewicz (Eds.), Routledge handbook of critical criminology (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315622040-24