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Crime Control Industry and the Management of the Surplus Population

NCJ Number
187853
Journal
Critical Criminology Volume: 9 Issue: 1/2 Dated: Autumn 2000 Pages: 39-62
Author(s)
Randall G. Shelden; William B. Brown
Date Published
2000
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article examines what is referred to as "the crime control industry" and how its development relates to growing inequality and the need to "manage" or "contain" the "surplus population."
Abstract
Profits are a major moving force in the crime control process, rather than the goal of reducing crime and suffering. An important component of this industry is the "prison industrial complex," one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. Also included is a rapidly growing private security industry that includes private police and security guards, along with a growing supply of technology to aid in the "war on crime." Other components include drug testing companies, gated communities, and a booming gun industry. The article concludes that the main targets for this war continue to be those groups deemed superfluous to the creation of wealth and profit as society moves from a manufacturing to a service/information economy. As big business continues to reap enormous profits and increasing numbers of people are inevitably relegated to the surplus population (especially inner-city minorities), the potential for the disruption of "normal business activities" increases, whether through radical democratic grass-roots activities or through criminal activity. As long as such a potential exists, so will the potential for the increase in the "crime control industry." Table, notes, references