Review - 'American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment' by Shane Bauer

I confess I didn't know much about prisons before cracking open American Prison, and I hadn't given much thought to what life is like inside them. But this book opened my eyes and completely shocked me out of my hazy stupor.

In order to gather research, journalist Shane Bauer spent four months posing undercover as a prison guard at a private, for-profit prison in Winnfield, Louisiana. At times, he almost reached the breaking point, and for good reason.

When you think about it, how can private, for-profit prisons be legal? It doesn't make sense. Prisons are a public service, like roads or soup kitchens or libraries, none of which are suitable for for-profit endeavors chasing the bottom line. The prison's primary goal would be to make as much money as possible while spending as little as possible on their prisoners, who are locked up and have no voice to protest. Surely, what results is greed and abuse of power.

The other thing this book highlights is how difficult working in a prison can be, both physically and mentally. This seems especially true at this private prison, where there weren't enough staff or support or adequate training and pay. Often, chaos reigns and prisoners have run of the place. The employees, by simply working there, open themselves up to severe mental issues, depression, and PTSD. Yet, because this is a for-profit corporation with little oversight, it is in the company's best interest to deny these issues and to provide as little medical care as possible.

This book, in alternative chapters, also discusses the history of incarceration in this country. It details how it evolved from slavery into profit, and along the way, stepped on plenty of the poor and minorities, who are the most downtrodden to begin with.

Bauer adapted this from his original article in Mother Jones magazine, and at times the book did feel a little too filled out. I wish he had spent some more time interpreting and analyzing what he saw rather than giving a mostly straight up narrative of his experience. I found myself wanting to know more of why and how it can change for the better, but the book doesn't provide those answers.

Still, it's a compelling and interesting read, and it opened my eyes to a topic I previously knew woefully little about.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars