Countless American lives have been touched by the United States
prisons during their two-hundred years of existence. Indeed, in the
United States today over 2 million citizens are incarcerated. At
today’s rates an estimated 6% of Americans will be incarcerated in a
prison in the course of their lives. With these startling statistics
in mind, often times one of the most stunning aspects of the United
States’ prison system is overlooked – the money factor.  From before
the birth of the modern prison in the late 18th century into the
21st century resources have figured heavily into the development and
extension of the penal system.

This course will attempt to address the reality of prisons and their
economics since the inception of the modern prison system at the end
of the 1700s.  Topics covered will include the growth of the use of
prisons, the prison labor system (both historically and presently),
and privatization in the prison system (including private prisons).
Some time will also be spent on the system of inmate economies and
trade behind prison walls. Special attention will be paid to the
notion of a prison-industrial complex, its causes and consequences,
and the costs to society of an entrenched money-driven penal system.

Class meeting:  Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:00-3:30

****THIS CLASS MEETS SECOND 8 WEEKS ONLY****

Instructor:  Steven Tillotson, criminal justice department