The Profit in Locking Up Our Kids

I am starting another series of posts that addresses prison growth, the profits in prisons, the laws that made this possible and the authority given to government officials to create these machines of destruction.  There have been many articles, periodicals and books written on this subject.  Unfortunately the only people who have read these books are those who are involved in trying to change the system or those college students that are studying law and social issues. 

That is how I learned about the two books that I will be referencing.  College students that were attending Colorado College were given “The Perpetual Prisoner Machine” by Joel Dyer and “Prison Nation”, which has many contributors that were edited by Tara Herivel and Paul Wright ; as reading and source material for their Sociology class.  When those books first came into my home, I walked around them as they lay on the coffee table.  Eventually I put them on the book shelf, vowing to sit and read them “some day”.  The pain and impact of inviolate acts in courtrooms and the stark reality of steel bars and razor wire were to fresh and painful.  I was not ready to face the truth that would be revealed on those pages.  I was not ready to deal with the reality of my sons life.

The truth?  Prison is the pit of evil.  The corruption and inhumane decisions that put people in prison are nothing compared to the reality of the daily violence endured behind those walls.  I could not and did not want to imagine the treatment, threats, conditions, food, medical care or sleeping quarters that were his life.   However,  I firmly believe that you have two choices.  You can either be part of the problem or part of the solution.  So I read the books. 

As I began reading the pages that dispelled the myths of crime and incarceration I became very cold.  I wrapped myself in a blanket to bring comfort to my body but I continued to shake.  The truths that were reported on those pages caused me to realize how deeply we had sunk into our humanist, materialistic, self-righteous mode of thinking.  I began to see how easily we were spoon fed information, entertained with filth and violence, and led astray by those who had found a way to profit from misfortune, poverty, addiction and warehousing our juvenile offenders in adult prison facilities.   I saw how perverse we were as we willingly sold our honor for power and position. 

By the time I had finished reading those two books and researching articles and organizations that intended to educate the public, I was sick to my stomach.  And inside my head the same questions kept resounding……..who are the real criminals?  Who is really violating the American people? 

Join me as I reveal the resources, statistics and truths about the growth of America’s prisons.  I warn you……it is not pretty……it will appall you……..it will leave you cold.

This entry was posted on 5. September 2008 at 12:37 and is filed under Prison Reform Advocates, Juvenile Reform Advocates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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