Introduction to the Prison Economy
Crime cannot pay, but prison does. A parallel economy thrives behind the closed doors and razor wire. Governments worldwide spend hundreds of billions every year to keep more than 11.5 million people behind bars – mainly men. The exact global costs are unclear, but in the United States alone, the prison budget is $80.7 billion per year, compared to Brazil with around $4 billion. With the fourth largest prison population in the world, India spends almost $1 billion.
The Cost of Incarceration
Private companies now benefit from detention in many countries, from building cells to the sale of telephone calls. Inside, syndicates for organized crime run. Inmates are in an underground economy in which ramen noodles are currency, and the work pays only a few cents an hour to survive. In addition to low rehabilitation rates, governments cannot contain another growing crisis – overcrowding with the prison. Criminal reform internationally reports that 155 countries struggle with prison overcapacity, with facilities in Congo, Cambodia, and the Philippines at 300 to 600% overcapacity.
Benefit from Punishment, Privatize the Pain
The private sector has classified prison management since the 1980s, with the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Brazil increasingly outsourcing operations and services to non-profit companies. The US government gives over $3.9 billion a year for private prisons. Their operators earn billions from other services, including food, healthcare, and telecommunications. These US prisons, which are called Commissioner, are marked by up to 600% profit, while telephone calls can cost families up to $16 for just 15 minutes.
Private Prisons: Efficiency and Criticism
One of the most important successes of the private sector is a prison that the British prison organizer Serco in Auckland, New Zealand, organized. This claims that only 13.6% of the occupants were occupied within two years of release, local media reported in January. This is lower than the 34% rate for state-run prisons and even exceeds the Norway relapse rate of 20%, which is seen as a global standard for prison performance. However, private prison operators are criticized for a lack of accountability and profit-oriented incentives.
Crime Networks Thrive in the Walls
Beyond the bureaucracy, a darker economy lives behind bars. Gangs organized crime have been deeply embedded in the prison system. These groups operate drug trafficking, blackmail, and violence both within and beyond the goals. Smuggling of smuggling such as drugs, telephones, and weapons in prisons is an important source of income. The Brazil’s PCC gang sells drugs 10 to 20 times its street value and smartphones for up to $1,500 inside and earns millions every year.
Sentenced to Cash and Restrictions
In crowded cells, inmates have built an informal marketplace that is driven by the need. Everyday objects – instant pasta, soap, cigarettes – are often used in a system in which survival often depends on the trade. In many prison systems, brutal credit rules apply to the disadvantages: take one, pay two or sometimes three. This system is sometimes referred to as a "double bubble" and is a form of high recognition for the basics in life and smuggling goods that can quickly catch inmates in cycles of debts and violent retaliation.
Prison Work and Operating Costs
Prison work also helps to reduce the operating costs, whereby US inmates only paid $1 to $4 a day for kitchen work, cleaning, and laundry. In Indian prisons, inmates can only earn $0.10 a day, while the Brazilian law ensures that inmates receive at least 75% of the minimum wage, which is $10 a day. According to prison policy, the family of the US prisoners issue $2.9 billion a year for food, telephone calls, and other issues in connection with the prison sentence of their relatives. They are often called to pay court fees, reimbursements, or fines.
