prison industrial complex

American  

[priz-uhn in-duhs-tree-uhl kom-pleks] / ˈprɪz ən ɪnˈdʌs tri əl ˌkɒm plɛks /

Or prison-industrial complex

noun

1. the network of government agencies and private industry that foster, benefit from, and contribute to mass incarceration, the imprisonment of large numbers of people.

   The cheapness of prison labor is just one way that the prison industrial complex is used for profit.

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Etymology

Origin of prison industrial complex

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

"The Island is Pack" refers to Rikers – at the beginning of what we eventually call the prison industrial complex.

From Salon • May 14, 2023

They carry the story forward, examining how the prison industrial complex shapes the lives, loves, hopes and dreams of a tightknit circle of friends and family in the Bay Area.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2023

Dark, stark, profound, Hough’s work illuminates the for-profit nature of the U.S. prison industrial complex with pictures showing naked and sometimes anonymized bodies bound in chains and processed like raw material by machines.

From New York Times • Oct. 13, 2021

Many films have sought to capture the impact of America’s prison industrial complex, but “Time” is something else.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 6, 2020

By midseason, it’s clear that Kohan is railing harder against the prison industrial complex than ever before.

From The Verge • Jun. 20, 2016