Punishment for Sale Private Prisons, Big Business, and the Incarceration Binge

by Selman, Donna; Leighton, Paul

• ISBN13: 9781442201736
• ISBN10: 1442201738
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-01-16
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Punishment for Sale is the definitive modern history of private prisons, told through social, economic and political frames. The authors explore the origin of the ideas of modern privatization, the establishment of private prisons, and the efforts to keep expanding in the face of problems and bad publicity. The book provides a balanced telling of the story of private prisons and the resistance they engendered within the context of criminology, and it is intended for supplemental use in undergraduate and graduate courses in criminology, social problems, and race and ethnicity.

Author Biography

Donna Selman is assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice of Eastern Michigan University. She contributed to the book Battleground: Criminal Justice. Paul Leighton is professor of criminology and criminal justice at Eastern Michigan University. He coauthor of Race, Class, Gender, and Crime, and is the founder of StopViolence.com, a resource for non-repressive responses to violence prevention.

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, and Boxes	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The Crime "Problem" and the Free Market "Solution"
America's Incarceration Binge: The Expansion of Prisons, Budgets, and Injustice	p. 17
The Big Government "Problem" and the Kentucky Fried Prison "Solution"	p. 47
Understanding the Operations of Prison, Inc.
The Prison-Industrial Complex: Profits, Vested Interests, and Politics	p. 77
Confronting Problems: Blame Prisoners and Contracts, Then Get A Bailout	p. 105
A Critical Look at the Efficiency and Overhead Costs of Private Prisons	p. 129
Conclusion: Back to the Future	p. 159
Appendix: Using the Securities and Exchange Commission Website to Research Private Prisons	p. 175
References	p. 177
Index	p. 195
About the Authors	p. 203
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