American Prison, by Shane Bauer
Penguin Audio 2018
Audiobook - 10 Hours 25 minutes
Narrated by James Fouhey
Non-Fiction
Narrated by James Fouhey
Non-Fiction
My Rating (out of 5)
⭐⭐⭐⭐
An eye opening exposé into the workings if the for-profit prison system.
Shane Bauer is an investigative journalist for Mother Jones Magazine. in 2014, he decided to go undercover in a privately run for-profit prison. He applied for and was awarded a job as a correctional officer for CCA's - or Corrections Corporation of America's facility in Winnfield Louisiana
Shane Bauer is an investigative journalist for Mother Jones Magazine. in 2014, he decided to go undercover in a privately run for-profit prison. He applied for and was awarded a job as a correctional officer for CCA's - or Corrections Corporation of America's facility in Winnfield Louisiana
When applying for the job, he used his real name. The fact that that he was hired and they didn't realize he was a reporter, tells you what the company's policy on background checks really is. Bauer spent four months undercover - stealthily taking meticulous notes and recording his experiences. Using the first hand information he obtains through his role as a correctional officer working in a modern privately run prison, Bauer gives readers a glimpse into the workings of the prison and the corporation running it. Bauer documents everything from prisoner neglect, abuse, poor maintenance, security breaches - you name it.
Along with that, he provides a detailed and well researched history of prison's for profit in America and how it evolved out from slavery.
As a Canadian, much of the political and historical information provided in this book were "out of scope" for me when it comes to issues of government. I still found it very interesting as I have always had a fascination with criminal reform and corrections. I read this more out of interest about the sub-culture of the guards and prisoners.
This is an enlightening and thought provoking book. For those that would like to read the highlights, Bauer's magazine article based on this experience is on the Mother Jones website.
Narration was clear and with good cadence and tone. .
Additional Notes:
Canada does not currently have any privately run for-profit prisons. Historically there have been two such detention centres run for-profit in Canada. Both were run by big names in American prison-for-profit circles.
One, a maximum security prison was run for-profit from 2001 to 2006 when the contract ended and it reverted to government control. It was compared to a nearly identical and nearby federally run facility, and it was found to be inefficient, as well as the publicly run facility had better outcomes.
The other was a youth detention centre. The company that was running that facility was removed from day to day operations amid protests against them. Since they had financed and built the facility, when they left they were were able to keep a maintenance only contract on top of a hefty lease payment to them from the Canadian Government.
Just to be clear, Canada has its own issues with prison reform, I am not saying otherwise - but the kind and level of corporate corruption that comes from a for-profit system is not one of them.
This is an enlightening and thought provoking book. For those that would like to read the highlights, Bauer's magazine article based on this experience is on the Mother Jones website.
Narration was clear and with good cadence and tone. .
Additional Notes:
Canada does not currently have any privately run for-profit prisons. Historically there have been two such detention centres run for-profit in Canada. Both were run by big names in American prison-for-profit circles.
One, a maximum security prison was run for-profit from 2001 to 2006 when the contract ended and it reverted to government control. It was compared to a nearly identical and nearby federally run facility, and it was found to be inefficient, as well as the publicly run facility had better outcomes.
The other was a youth detention centre. The company that was running that facility was removed from day to day operations amid protests against them. Since they had financed and built the facility, when they left they were were able to keep a maintenance only contract on top of a hefty lease payment to them from the Canadian Government.
Just to be clear, Canada has its own issues with prison reform, I am not saying otherwise - but the kind and level of corporate corruption that comes from a for-profit system is not one of them.
Happy Reading,
Christine
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