Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

It Can’t Be Fixed Because It’s Not Broken: Racism and Disability in the Prison Industrial Complex

  • Chapter
Disability Incarcerated

Abstract

Prisons1 are dangerous places, especially if you are racialized and disabled. Because of the ways that prisons are constructed, imagined, and maintained, rampant ableism and racism affect the daily lives of many prisoners. In this chapter, we explore how disability and experiences of racialization are constructed throughout the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC)2 within the Canadian context (Turtle Island). Further, we contend that colonization, racism, and ableism are inherent to the functioning of the penal system. The PIC is based on a set of interests created and maintained to support capitalism, patriarchy, imperialism, colonialism, racism, ableism, and white supremacy. It acts as a form of social control for the rich and powerful. As such, it benefits politicians, governments, big businesses, developers, law enforcement, and the nonprofit industrial complex. Angela Davis (2003) explains,

To deliver up bodies destined for profitable punishment, the political economy of prisons relies on racialized assumptions of criminality—such as images of Black welfare mothers reproducing criminal children—and on racist practices in arrest, conviction, and sentencing patterns. Colored bodies constitute the main human raw material in this vast experiment to disappear the major social problems of our time. Once the aura of magic is stripped away from the imprisonment solution, what is revealed is racism, class bias, and the parasitic seduction of capitalist profit. The prison industrial system materially and morally impoverishes its inhabitants and devours the social wealth needed to address the very problems that have led to spiraling numbers of prisoners. (55)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Aboriginal Healing Foundation. 2009. “Residential Schools, Prisons, and HIV/AIDS among Aboriginal People in Canada: Exploring the Connections”. Accessed September 9, 2012. http://www.ahf.ca/publications/research-series

    Google Scholar 

  • Aboriginal Healing Foundation. 2004. “Historic Trauma and Aboriginal Healing”. Accessed September 9, 2012. http://www.ahf.ca/downloads/historic-trauma.pdf

  • Aboriginal Healing Foundation. 2003. “Aboriginal People, Resilience and the Residential School Legacy”. Accessed September 9, 2012. http://www.ahf.ca/downloads/resilience.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, Michelle. 2010. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness. New York: New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Backhouse, Constance. 2000. Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900–1950. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, Chris. 2006. “Introducing White Disability Studies: A Modest Proposal”. In The Disability Studies Reader (2nd ed.), edited by Lennard J. Davis. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Branfield, Fran. 1999. “The Disability Movement: A Movement of Disabled People - A Response to Paul S. Duckett”. Disability & Society 14(3): 399–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, Shannon. 2012. “Police-Reported Crime Statistics in Canada, 2011”. Statistics Canada Catalogue No. 85-002-XWE. Accessed September 14. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2012001/article/11692-eng.htm

    Google Scholar 

  • Brink, Johann, James Livingston, Sarah Desmarais, C. Greaves, Victoria Maxwell, Eric Michalak, Rick Parent, Simon Verdun-Jones, and Carnia Weaver. 2011. A Study of How People with Mental Illness Perceive and Interact with the Police. Calgary, AB: Mental Health Commission of Canada. Accessed September 3, 2012. http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca

  • Canadian AIDS Society. 2012. “HIV/AIDS and Men in Prison”. Accessed September 4. http://www.cdnaids.ca/hivaidsandmeninprison

    Google Scholar 

  • Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. 2013. “Prisons”. Accessed September 4, 2013. http://www.aidslaw.ca/EN/issues/prisons.htm

    Google Scholar 

  • Chu, Sandra Ka Hon. 2010. “‘Do the Right Thing’: An Evidence-Based Response to Addiction and Mental Health in Federal Prisons — Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security Regarding its Study Federal Corrections: Mental Health and Addiction Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network”. Accessed September 7, 2012. http://www.aidslaw.ca/publications/interfaces/downloadFile.php?ref=1678

    Google Scholar 

  • Carleton, Mark T. 1971. Politics and Punishment: The History of the Louisiana State Penal System. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • C-Change. 2001. “The Nature and Extent of Hepatitis C Related Discrimination”. Accessed September 7, 2012. http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/adb/ll_adb.nsf/vwFiles/HepC_Chapter2.pdf/$file/HepC_Chapter2.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Chrisjohn, Roland, and Sherri Young. 1995. The Circle Game: Shadow and Substance in the Residential School Experience in Canada. Penticton, BC: Theytus Books Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • City of Toronto Council and Committees. 2000. “Toronto Police Service Response to the Recommendations of the Coroner’s Inquest into the Death of Edmond Wai-Kong Yu”. prepared by Norman Gardner (Chairman). Toronto, ON. http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2000/agendas/committees/adm/adm000208/it014.htm City News Toronto. 2006. “Inquest Begins into Otto Vass Death”. October 16. http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/23905

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, Peter. 2012. “Stories from Prisoners: Joan, Alan, Peter”. Unpublished letter to Giselle Dias and Joan Ruzsa. May.

    Google Scholar 

  • Committee to Stop Targeted Policing. 2000. “Who’s the Target? An Evaluation of Community Action Policing”. Accessed September 15, 2012. tdrc.net/resources/public/Report-00–08.doc

    Google Scholar 

  • Cormack, Elizabeth. 2012. Racialized Policing: Aboriginal People’s Encounters with the Police. Black Point, NS: Fernwood Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). 2012. “Forum on Corrections Research: Release of Inmate Psychiatric Information”. Accessed September 3. http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/pblct/forum/e023/e023o-eng.shtml

    Google Scholar 

  • Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). 2011. “Commissioner’s Directive 800: Health Services”. Accessed September 5, 2012. http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/plcy/cdshtm/800-cde-eng.shtml

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, Alison. 2011. “Prison Watchdog Probes Spike in Number of Black Inmates”. CBC News, December 15. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/12/14/crawford-black-prison.html

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, Angela. 2003. “Masked Racism”. In Sing, Whisper, Shout, Pray: Feminist Visions for a Just World, edited by Jaqui Alexander, Mab Segrest, Lisa Albrecht, and Sharon Day, 50–57. Fort Bragg, CA: EdgeWork Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Devon, D.B. 2012. “Slavery By A Different Name: The Convict Lease System”. Centre for Research on Globalization. Accessed September 3. http://www.globalresearch.ca/slavery-by-a-different-name-the-convict-lease-system/31176

    Google Scholar 

  • Dias, Giselle. 2012. “Kevin”. Unpublished letter to Giselle Dias. February.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ejiogu, Nwadiogo, and Syrus Marcus Ware. 2008. “How Disability Studies Stays White, and What Kind of White it Stays”. Paper presented to Society for Disability Studies, Baruch College, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, Peter, and Wendy L. Wobeser. 2000. “Health Care Problems in Prison”. CMAJ 162(5): 664–665.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, Micheal. 1977. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fritsch, Kelly. 2009. “Resisting Easy Answers: An Interview with Eli Clare”. Upping the Anti-Journal 9. Accessed September 3, 2012. http://uppingtheanti.org/journal/article/09-resisting-easy-answers/

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebhard, Amanda. 2012. “Pipeline to Prison: How Schools Shape a Future of Incarceration for Indigenous Youth”. Briarpatch Magazine, September 1. Accessed September 9. http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/pipeline-to-prison

    Google Scholar 

  • Global Commission on Drugs. 2012. “Six Former Presidents, Richard Branson and Other World Leaders: Criminalization of Drug Use Fuels the Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic”. Accessed September 24. http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/hivaids-pandemic/

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorski, Terrance. 2012. “Post Incarceration Syndrome and Relapse”. Accessed September 7, 2012. http://www.tgorski.com/criminal_justice/cjs_pics_&_relapse.htm

    Google Scholar 

  • Hils, A’ishah. 2012. “Interview with Leroy Moore”. Accessed September 3. http://disabilityrightnow.wordpress.com/tag/ableism/

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiwani, Yasmin. 2002. “The Criminalization of ‘Race,’ the Racialization of Crime”. In Crimes of Colour: Racialization and the Criminal Justice System in Canada, edited by Wendy Chan and Kiran Mirchandani, 67–86. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapidus, Lenora, Namita Luthra, Anjuli Verma, Deborah Small, Patricia Allard, and Kirsten Levingston. 2004. “Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families”. Accessed September 15, 2012. http://www.aclu.org/files/images/asset_upload_file431_23513.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy-Pounds, Nekima. 2006. “Beaten by the System and Down for the Count: Why Poor Women of Color and Children Don’t Stand a Chance Against U.S. Drug-Sentencing Policy”. University of St. Thomas Law Journal 3(3):462–495.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, Sandra L., and Rebecca J. Macy. 2011. “Sexual Violence Against Women: Impact on High-Risk Health Behaviors and Reproductive Health”. Harrisburg, PA: National Resource Center on Domestic Violence. Accessed September 3, 2012. http://www.vawnet.org/applied-research-papers/print-document.php?doc_id=2034

  • Mancini, Matthew J. 1996. One Dies, Get Another Convict Leasing in the American South, 1866–1928. A Cruel Chapter in Southern Criminal Justice. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauer, Marc. 2003. “Comparative International Rates of Incarceration: An Examination of Causes and Trends”. Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project. Accessed September 16, 2012. http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/inc_comparative_intl.pdf.

  • Mauer, Marc, Cathy Potler, and Richard Wolf. 1999. “Gender and Justice: Women, Drugs, and Sentencing Policy”. Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project. Accessed August 28, 2012. http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/dp_genderandjustice.pdf

  • Mauer, Marc, and Ryan S. King. 2007. Uneven Justice: State Rates of Incarceration by Race and Ethnicity. Washington, DC: Sentencing Project.

    Google Scholar 

  • McShane, Marilyn D., and Frank P. Williams III, eds. 2005. Encyclopedia of American Prisons. Taylor & Francis e-Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikkonen, Juha, and Dennis Raphael. 2010. “The Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts”. Accessed September 4, 2012. http://www.thecanadianfacts.org/

    Google Scholar 

  • Millay, Tamara A., Veena A. Satyanarayana, Catina C. O’Leary, Robert Crecelius, and Linda B. Cotter. 2009. “Risky Business: Focus-Group Analysis of Sexual Behaviors, Drug Use and Victimization among Incarcerated Women in St. Louis”. Journal of Urban Health 86(5): 810–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mood Disorder Society of Canada. 2009. “Mental Illness and Addiction in Canada”. Accessed September 5, 2012. http://www.mooddisorderscanada.ca/documents/Media%20Room/Quick%20Facts%203rd%20Edition%20Eng%20Nov%2012%2009.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, Lisa D., and Amy Elkavich. 2008. “Who’s Using and Who’s Doing Time: Incarceration, The War on Drugs, and Public Health”. American Journal of Public Health 98(5): 782–786.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mussell, B., K. Cardiff, and J. White. 2004. “The Mental Health and Well Being of Aboriginal Children and Youth: Guidance for New Approaches and Services”. Accessed September 16, 2012. http://www.mheccu.ubc.ca/

    Google Scholar 

  • McLay, David, and Ann Silversides. 2011. “Behind the Walls: Living with HIV in Prison Comes with Its Own Set of Challenges, and Some Aren’t the Ones You’d Expect”. CATIE. Accessed August 28, 2012. http://www.catie.ca/en/positiveside/winter-2011/behind-walls

    Google Scholar 

  • North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA International). 2009. Nursing Diagnosis Definitions and Classification 2009–2011. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Obomsawin, Alanis. 2000. Rocks at Whiskey Trench. [film]. National Film Board of Canada Collection. http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=33895

  • Office of the Correctional Investigator. 2010. “Report Finds Serious Gaps in the Planning and Delivery of Mental Health Services for Federally Sentenced Offenders”. Accessed September 12, 2012. http://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/comm/press/press20100923-eng.aspx

    Google Scholar 

  • Reece, Raimunda. 2010. Caged (No)Bodies: Exploring the Racialized and Gendered Politics of Incarceration of Black Women in the Canadian Prison System. Toronto, ON: York University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sapers, Howard. 2009. “Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator 2008–2009”. Accessed August 5, 2012. http://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/rpt/annrpt/annrpt20082009-eng.aspx#1

    Google Scholar 

  • Scaramella, Gene L., Steven M. Cox, and William P. McCamey. 2011. Introduction to Policing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schertow, John Ahni. 2008. “Urgent Help Needed: Mohawks Surrounded by OPP”. Intercontinental Cry. Accessed August 5, 2012. http://intercontinentalcry.org/urgent-help-needed-mohawks-surrounded-by-opp

    Google Scholar 

  • Silversides, Ann. 2010. “HIV and Hepatitis C: Diseases that Run Rampant in Canadian Prisons”. Rabble. Accessed August 5, 2012. http://rabble.ca/news/2010/05/hiv-and-hepatitis-c-diseases-run-rampant-canadian-prisons

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens-Watkins, Danielle, Brea Perry, Kathi L. Harp, and Carrie B. Oser. 2012. “African-American Women: The Protective Effects of Ethnic Identity, Affirmation, and Behavior”. The Journal of Black Psychology 38(4): 471–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P.K., N.B. Jostmann, A.D. Galinsky, and W.W. van Dijk. 2008. “Lacking Power Impairs Executive Functions”. Psychological Science 19(5): 441–447. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467–9280.2008.02107.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevethan, Shelley, and Christopher J. Rastin. 2004. “A Profile of Visible Minority Offenders in the Federal Canadian Correctional System”. Research report delivered to Correctional Services Canada. Accessed September 9, 2012. http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/rsrch/reports/r144/r144_e.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • VANDU. 1998. “About VANDU”. Accessed September 4, 2012. http://www.vandu.org.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weitz, Don. 2012. “Stop Killing Us! A Critique of Toronto Police Responses to Psychiatric Survivors”. Voices: Newsletter of the Psychiatric Survivor Archives of Toronto 3(2): 4–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO). 2007. “Mental Health and Prisons”. Accessed September 14, 2012. http://www.who.int/mental_health/policy/mh_in_prison.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, Evan, Ronald Lim, and Thomas Kerr. 2006. “Initiation of Opiate Addiction in a Canadian Prison: A Case Report”. Harm Reduction Journal 3: 11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yong, Ed. 2008. “Feeling Powerless Impairs Higher Mental Abilities”. Scienceblogs.com. May 19. http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/05/19/feeling-powerless-impairs-higher-mental-abilities/

    Google Scholar 

  • Zakaria, Diane, Jennie Mae Thompson, Ashley Jarvis, and Frederic Borgatta. 2010. “Summary of Emerging Findings from the 2007 National Inmate Infectious Diseases and Risk Behaviours Surve”. Research Report. Correctional Service of Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zlomislic, D. 2009. “Ashley Smith Suicide Prompts Probe into Other Prison Deaths”. The Toronto Star. Accessed September 9, 2012. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/711798-ashley-smith-suicide-prompts-probe-into-other-prisondeaths

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Syrus Ware
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joan Ruzsa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Giselle Dias
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Liat Ben-Moshe Chris Chapman Allison C. Carey

Copyright information

© 2014 Liat Ben-Moshe, Chris Chapman, and Allison C. Carey

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ware, S., Ruzsa, J., Dias, G. (2014). It Can’t Be Fixed Because It’s Not Broken: Racism and Disability in the Prison Industrial Complex. In: Ben-Moshe, L., Chapman, C., Carey, A.C. (eds) Disability Incarcerated. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137388476_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation