Past work related to the private prison system has focused on direct comparisons between private and public facilities, including their respective quality, cost-effectiveness, and influence on recidivism. Using 2005 United States data compiled from a prison facility census, county census, and information on number of arrests by county, I examine the effect that the presence of private prisons has on the number of adult male arrests per county. Across four regression models, I initially find a significant effect of private prisons on arrests, but find that effect becomes insignificant once county and prison controls are accounted for. This suggests that the presence of a private prison in a particular county does not necessarily lead to a significant increase or decrease of arrests in that area.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Gerad Middendorf / The stigma of prison extends beyond the male prisoner to those who care about him, often his wife. Almost all prisoners will be released back into their communities (Hughes, 2003) and having a solid support network improves successful re-entry experiences and lowers recidivism rates for men who are released from prison (Duwe & Clark, 2013). The stigmatization that prison wives feel because they are married to an inmate, can affect how attached they feel to their community, how comfortable they feel in their workplace, and how accepted they feel by their family and friends. Financial exploitation, challenging prison policies, and visitation procedures oftentimes can make an already difficult situation even more difficult. While the number of men in prison in the United States is slowly declining, the United States remains the world leader in the number of people incarcerated (Travis, et. al., 2014). As this level of incarceration continues to affect such a large number of people (specifically women for this research) in our society, there is reason to consider a more intentional approach to focusing on recognizing the feelings and experiences of prison wives. This research includes narrative interviews of 35 women who identified as prison wives. The goal of the research was to specifically gather details on their experiences of being a prison wife and how they feel that society judged them based on the stereotype they perceived society to have. My research shows that the interviewees feel stigmatized; however, the awareness of, feelings about, and the reaction toward the stigmatization manifests differently among the two groups of prison wives that I identified: Riders and Stoppers. I have gathered details about how their experiences were often made more challenging as they tried to maintain their relationships in the midst of financial exploitation and challenging prison policies and procedures. I conclude my thesis on the relevancy of their experiences as they relate to the prison-industrial complex in our society and how this affects their interactions within the communities in which a prisoner’s wife, family members, and formerly incarcerated individuals live and work.

This thesis engages in a counter-visual ethnography, using Alcatraz as a site to examine the workings of U.S. memorialization practices and visuality, specifically regarding carcerality. In examining the U.S.’s most popular site of penal tourism, this ethnography aims to provide new vantages from which to perceive of Alcatraz in relationship to the contemporary carceral moment. This is done in part by analyzing the processes of visuality through which hegemonic meanings of carcerality are circulated and consolidated at the site. The work is to at once see and unsee the ways Alcatraz is visually structured, in the process creating alternative ways to perceive of the site in its historical contingencies and relation with the wider workings of the carceral state.

Several scholars have studied the Prison-Industrial Complex (PIC) since the late 1990s. However, there is a lack of research on how private actors profiting from the PIC, such as private prisons, are maintaining and sustaining it. This study explores how private prisons utilise different forms of power to maintain the PIC by shedding light on which real, structural, and soft powers CoreCivic and The GEO Group (the two largest private prison companies in America) are utilising to sustain the PIC. This will be done by analysing CoreCivic and The GEO group through the lens of Steven Lukes’ framework - Three Dimensions of Power. The study has been conducted as a qualitative desk and case study following abductive reasoning. The data have been analysed employing both text and discourse analysis. While the companies unquestionably use structural power, primarily through lobbying, to maintain and sustain the PIC, it can only be suggested how they have employed real and soft power. The companies use real power mainly to ensure high-profit margins. It can thus, be suggested that the companies are indirectly maintaining the PIC by simply ensuring continued profitability. Finally, the study suggests how the companies are employing soft power to upkeep the PIC. By portraying themselves to the American society in a more positive way, contradictory to how they operate, the companies ensure continued support by society, which is vital for their continued existence.

Private probation companies were formed to provide supervision to low-risk offenders who committed misdemeanor charges by allowing offenders to reside in the community instead of being incarcerated. However, research has revealed that private probation agencies have become problematic because state and local governments have benefited financially by collecting court costs and probation supervision fees from indigent probationers who are unable to pay. Other researchers have revealed that gender, race, and attorney representation r impact whether a warrant would be issued for failure to pay court costs and supervisions fees. This study examined the predictive relationships between race, gender, attorney representation, and warrants being issued. The theoretical framework for this study was the prison-industrial complex that emphasizes how government and private companies' financial interests are linked to the expansion of the penal system. This study addressed the question of whether gender, race, and attorney representation predicted the likelihood of private probation warrants being issued. A quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional design based upon secondary data analysis was used to address the research question. Results from a logistic regression showed that only race predicted the likelihood of private probation warrants being issued. Results also showed that Black males were more likely to have a warrant issued for their arrest. The findings can be used to advocate fair treatment of Black males who are disproportionately affected by unconstitutional practices of private probation companies. Findings can be used to promote social change by advocating that indigent offenders by offered alternative sentences other than jail when they cannot pay court costs and probation fees.

The circumstance of mass incarceration in the U.S. has reached the point of social crisis. When the statistics on imprisonment are demographically disaggregated, they point to the overrepresentation of imprisoned men and women of color. Paying special attention to Black men and women, critical race, prison advocacy, and Black feminist research has been vital in theorizing the structural and ideological implications of this racial inequity. The insight that the U.S. prison system constitutes a prison industrial complex arose from such scholarship. More recently, transnational feminism has offered insight into the specific experience and socio-historical contextualization of raced women within a transnational prison industrial complex. Based on transnational and Black feminist precepts, this thesis will argue the need to reframe the discursive position of imprisoned Black women in liberatory discourse. Using the work of Homi K. Bhabha, I contend that Black women’s discursive positions should be understood as “culturally undecidable.” Dominant paradigms of mainstream feminism have assigned Black women the task of fulfilling the ideal of “true womanhood.” Black feminist scholars have argued that this model erases and marginalizes Black women’s resistance. I suggest the imposition of this ideal rhetorically fixes Black women as victims, pathologizes them, and ultimately pathologizes the Black community. In contrast, renaming Black women’s discursive position as “culturally undecidable” creates the possibility to decenter the transnational networks that underpin the transnational prison industrial complex. To proffer this argument, I will analyze performative resistances and reifications of criminalization within narratives of imprisoned Black women and suggest performance practices to encourage Black women’s sense of agency. / text

abstract: National mandates to decrease suspension numbers have prompted school districts across the country to turn to a practice known as restorative justice as an alternative to removing students through suspension or referral to law enforcement for problematic behavior. This ethnographic case study examines school-based restorative justice programs as potentially disruptive social movements in dismantling the school-to-prison-pipeline through participatory analysis of one school’s implementation of Discipline that Restores. Findings go beyond suspension numbers to discuss the promise inherent in the program’s validation of student lived experience using a disruptive framework within the greater context of the politics of care and the school-to-prison-pipeline. Findings analyze the intersection of race, power, and identity with the experience of care in defining community to illustrate some of the prominent structural impediments that continue to work to cap the program’s disruptive potential. This study argues that restorative justice, through the experience of care, has the potential to act as a disruptive force, but wrestles with the enormity of the larger structural investments required for authentic transformative and disruptive change to occur. As the restorative justice movement gains steam, on-going critical analysis against a disruptive framework becomes necessary to ensure the future success of restorative discipline in disrupting the school-to-prison-pipeline. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Social Justice and Human Rights 2018

The United States has the largest population of imprisoned persons in the world. The vast majority of these individuals eventually leave prison and re-enter society, facing a number of challenges in the process. Those who are unable to successfully re-enter society run the risk of recidivating back into the prison system. Mentoring has the potential to promote successful re-entry and help offenders to get their lives back on track. Pathfinders of Tarrant County is a unique organization. Its historical position as one of the foremost "welfare to work" programs gives it unique insight into the economic struggles of at-risk individuals and families, and its existing relationships with mentors and other community organizations gives it a rich pool of resources to draw from. By helping to connect participants with community resources, Pathfinders removes quite a bit of the complexity from seeking help at a time when vulnerable people need it most. This thesis presents an overview of how Pathfinders conducts mentoring and its unique brand of social service advocacy, including the unique and not-so unique challenges that a re-entry population may have to offer.

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