prison industrial complex
noun
variants
or less commonly prison-industrial complex
: the profit-driven relationship between the government, the private companies that build, manage, supply, and service prisons, and related groups (such as prison industry unions and lobbyists) regarded as the cause of increased incarceration rates especially of poor people and minorities and often for nonviolent crimes
The exploitation of prison labor by private corporations is one aspect among an array of relationships linking corporations, government, correctional communities, and media. These relationships constitute what we now call a prison industrial complex. The term "prison industrial complex" was introduced by activists and scholars to contest prevailing beliefs that increased levels of crime were the root cause of mounting prison populations. Instead, they argue, prison construction and the attendant drive to fill these new structures with human bodies have been driven by ideologies of racism and the pursuit of profit.—
Angela Y. Davis
Angela Y. DavisThe prison-industrial complex involves U.S. for-profit prisons and their influence in American politics, she [Christia Mercer] said.—Will DeMarco
Will DeMarco[Eric] Schlosser's crucial findings are that the prison-industrial complex is a set of bureaucratic, political and economic interests that encourage increased spending on prisons, regardless of actual need.—Molly Ivins
Molly IvinsAs many have argued, the prison industrial complex is an engine of inequality through the disproportionate incarceration of both poor people and people of colour …—Corinne Mason and Shoshana Magnet
Corinne Mason and Shoshana MagnetExamples of prison industrial complex in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Scheeres’s work also inspired me to research the troubled teen industry, the hidden arm of America’s prison industrial complex, a largely unregulated network of religious and secular therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness programs, private youth programs, and drug rehabilitation centers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
In the meantime, investors can consider financial products like the FREE Index (FREEIN), a publicly available index that identifies and tracks companies who lead in fair chance hiring and disrupt the prison industrial complex, without sacrificing returns.
—Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2025
The prison industrial complex looms large, pulling too many men out of our communities and creating cycles of economic instability, which ripples through every aspect of life, including relationships.
—Ruhama Wolle, Glamour, 22 Jan. 2025
The novel is a powerful commentary on the commodification of Black bodies and the private prison industrial complex.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024
And wrongful conviction happens for a lot of things — racial bias, all sorts of problems in the prison industrial complex — but the thing that contributes to many wrongful convictions is a crime that happens that overwhelms a local police department.
—Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Nov. 2024
Ian Shelton started Regional Justice Center in 2016, shortly after Max was incarcerated, as a way to process his worries for his brother, the prison industrial complex, and its institutional degradation.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 7 Aug. 2024
Even just talking about the wellness industrial complex, which obviously parallels the prison industrial complex.
—Hazlitt, 25 May 2023
The show’s theme is that what happens in the prison industrial complex affects those of us on the outside as well as the people inside.
—Karen Kaplanscience and Medicine Editor, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2023
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Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
In the meantime, investors can consider financial products like the FREE Index (FREEIN), a publicly available index that identifies and tracks companies who lead in fair chance hiring and disrupt the prison industrial complex, without sacrificing returns.
—Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2025
The prison industrial complex looms large, pulling too many men out of our communities and creating cycles of economic instability, which ripples through every aspect of life, including relationships.
—Ruhama Wolle, Glamour, 22 Jan. 2025
The novel is a powerful commentary on the commodification of Black bodies and the private prison industrial complex.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024
And wrongful conviction happens for a lot of things — racial bias, all sorts of problems in the prison industrial complex — but the thing that contributes to many wrongful convictions is a crime that happens that overwhelms a local police department.
—Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Nov. 2024
Ian Shelton started Regional Justice Center in 2016, shortly after Max was incarcerated, as a way to process his worries for his brother, the prison industrial complex, and its institutional degradation.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 7 Aug. 2024
Even just talking about the wellness industrial complex, which obviously parallels the prison industrial complex.
—Hazlitt, 25 May 2023
The show’s theme is that what happens in the prison industrial complex affects those of us on the outside as well as the people inside.
—Karen Kaplanscience and Medicine Editor, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Prison industrial complex.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prison%20industrial%20complex. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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