CUP Undergraduate Research
Date of Award
Spring 4-1-2018
Document Type
Thesis
College
College of Arts & Sciences
Department
Humanities
Degree Name
History, BA
First Advisor
Joel Davis, Ph.D.
Abstract
Over the past thirty years the prison population in the United States has rapidly increased to the point that the U.S. now has the largest prison population in the world. How did this happen? Through research, this thesis will argue that mass incarceration is a direct result of the war on drugs and tough on crime policies dating back to the 1970’s. These policies largely targeted the urban poor and minorities. With a rapid increase in the prison population during 1980’s, state governments began to look to the private sector for a more cost-effective alternative. Private prison companies started with immigration detention centers and later gained state contracts. After multiple scandals ranging from escapes, violence, and neglect these companies backed away from state contracts. They returned to immigration detention centers bringing with them all they had learned from operating prisons.