Davis defines the prison industrial complex as the complex and manifold relationships between prisons, corporations, governments, and the media that perpetuate rising incarceration rates. She argues that the dramatic increase in prison populations isn’t due to an exponential increase in crime but rather because prisons are “driven by ideologies of racism and the pursuit of profit” (84). Davis describes the enduring connections between the prison industrial complex and the military industrial complex, using the “Law Enforcement Technology in the 21st Century” conference as an example. Beyond technology, Davis sees similarities between the prison system’s profits and the military’s profits, which come at the expense of social damage—usually to communities of color. The relationships within the prison industrial complex are so vast, Davis states, that entities who appear far-removed from the justice system are invested in increasing incarceration. A major field that profited from full prisons was medical research, which until 1974 used prisoners for experiments with minimal restrictions.

Davis then notes the social changes in the 1980s that spurred corporate interest in prisons. Deindustrialization—and social welfare cuts—left many people without reliable means of survival. Davis contends that the government and corporations use the prison system to control a growing group of destabilized people.