Private Prisons Aren’t Going Away, They’re Just Morphing Into Something Uglier

Private prisons plunge

In August, the Justice Department announced plans to end the use of private prisons. Officials concluded the facilities aren’t particularly safe and aren’t as effective at providing correctional services as government-run facilities. And once that happened the Department of Homeland Security said it would re-think its’ use of private prisons as immigrant detention facilities. Stock prices for the publicly-traded Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group fell precipitously and earlier this month, CCA laid off 12 percent of its workforce.

So you’d think that would be the end of private prisons, right? Well, Yes and No

It may seem this is the end of for-profit prisons in the U.S., but that appears unlikely.

This shocking new trend suggests it is far from over

The short film Society’s Parasite: A Look Inside The Treatment Industrial Complex, produced by Brave New Films shows that while efforts to reform the criminal justice system are at an all-time high, there is a dangerous precedent being established by the for-profit prison industry.

And the very same companies that have profited from the for-profit prison industry — the GEO Group and the CCA — are now profiting off of another dangerous system, the Treatment Industrial Complex (TIC). The TIC has expanded the incarceration industry into areas that traditionally focus on treatment and care of individuals involved in the criminal justice system. And this involves prison medical care, forensic mental hospitals, civil commitment centers, and “community corrections” programs like halfway houses, electronic monitoring, and house arrest, Brave New Films reports.

What factors are involved in this?

The public is becoming increasingly aware of the large-scale disenfranchisement of people of color via mass incarceration and the prison-industrial complex. This has resulted in increased support to end the for-profit prison system. And this increased awareness is viewed as a threat to those who profit from incarcerating people. And really, this new approach is an attempt to repackage the prison system so that the profits can continue.

Related: Viral Documentary ‘Immigrants For Sale’ Exposes Private Prison Horrors

The documentary exposes this, and shows just how dangerous this development is to the burgeoning movement for real criminal justice reform that’s dedicated to safety, not profits.

And like the monsters that they are, these re-worked corporations are devouring facilities that deliver “community corrections” programs. This includes prisoner re-entry services, electronic monitoring and other alternatives to incarceration, Raw Story notes.

“In other words, prison companies are simply re-branding themselves to market a repackaged product, promoting their business as providing humane treatment and rehabilitation,” writes film-maker Robert Greenwald. “Instead of alternatives to incarceration, it’s alternative forms of incarceration.”

The film shows how these companies rake in profits from efforts to rehabilitate drug users and the mentally ill who are unfortunate enough to become tangled in the criminal justice system.

One greedy tic

In the film, TIC is portrayed as an actual, blood-sucking tick that is literally parasitizing state and federal efforts to end mass incarceration. The short video shows you just how the profit motive is definitively at odds with real and true efforts to rehabilitate people.

Unbridled greed is the operative term here

But like the parasites they are, these companies rely on recidivism and expansion of the criminal punishment system.

“Private prison corporations’ very existence is at risk as the federal government and states around the country rethink their mass incarceration policies,” said Bob Libal, Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership, a partner in the film.

These cancerous companies can only profit through volume — and that means capturing as many victims as possible and holding them for as long as possible.

And that is absolutely disgusting

The video was done in cooperation with three advocacy organizations: The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) of Tucson, Arizona; Grassroots Leadership, which is out of Austin, Texas; and the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. The groups have identified various segments of the TIC. Now they are working to inform advocates and stakeholders nationwide about the dangers the TIC poses.

This blood-sucking TIC needs to be crushed under foot to keep it from spreading.

You can watch the short film below.

Photo by British Military Court via Getty Images

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