This is the presentation on the Prison Industrial Complex for SOC-RHET 297

2. What are the
societal
purposes of
prisons?

3. Physical space to
deal with social and
cultural issues
Maintaining the Economic
Racial, Social, C Growth for
ultural Hierarchy Prison
Industry

4. “A set of bureaucratic, political and economic interests that
encourages spending on incarceration regardless of actual
need”- Eric Schlosser,”The Prison-Industrial Complex”, The
Atlantic.
[The Prison Industrial Complex] “contest[s] prevailing beliefs
that increased levels of crime were the root cause of
mounting prison populations. Instead, they argued, prison
construction and the attendant drive to fill these new
structures with human bodies have been driven by
ideologies of racism and the pursuit of profit.”- Angela Davis.
Are Prisons Obsolete?
“...the Prison Industrial Complex is an interweaving of private
business and government interests. It holds a twofold
purpose, which can be described as profit and social
control.” –Stormy Ogden, “Pomo Woman, Ex-
Prisoner, Speaks Out”

6. I. There is not a relationship
between crime and prisons
 Inverse relationship between the crime rate and the growth
of prisons
 Prisons do not stop people from committing crimes.
 Not all crime is created equal

7. II. Prisons act as tools of
social control
• Relationship between racism and incarceration
• “A geographical solution to socio-economic problems”
• Tim Wise on the connections prison and social control.

8. III. Prisons serve an
economic imperative
• Private prisons make money from „housing prisoners‟
• Prisoners= free* labor
• Manages a restricted labor force
• Example: Central California

9. Why do sociologists study
the PIC?
 Prisons are a major part of our society
 The intersection of governments, business and ideology
 Culture of prison has an impact on communities on „the
outside‟
 How is power distributed and manipulated within the PIC?