Winn Correctional Case Study Stephen Bauer

Case Study Shane Bauer, an investigative journalist with Mother Jones, spent four months as a guard at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, LA from November 2014 to February 2015. Winn Correctional is a private, for-profit prison that is owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). It is also the oldest privately operated medium-security facility in the country (Bauer, 2016). During his time there, Bauer discovered just how terribly some of these prisons are run and the awful conditions that inmates are forced to suffer through. Bauer discusses his experiences at Winn, the horrible conditions of the prison that he witnessed, as well as the nonchalance of the other guards when it came to the prisoners and their safety.

Not only do these new recruits receive only a limited amount of training, but they are also taught to use force when it comes to the inmates misbehaving or disrespecting a guard (Bauer, 2016). During training, it was recommended that Bauer and his fellow recruits do not attempt to break up a fight between inmates because it would be too dangerous considering they will not be carrying pepper spray or a nightstick. Bauer goes on to talk about the realization that the inmates are very much in control of the prison. This is emphasized by the fact that the prison is very understaffed and there are only about two guards per tier, which holds nearly 100 inmates (Bauer, 2016). As well, as mentioned before, the guards are not very well trained and equipped to handle these inmates. Guards are also not very motivated to put themselves in harm’s way due to the fact that entry level guards only make minimum wage ($9.00/hr), which is $3.50 less than the wage of their public prison counterparts.
Lack of Medical

Multiple human rights organizations, as well as political and social organizations, are condemning what they are calling a “new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States,” where a prison population of up to 2 million – mostly Black and Hispanic are working for various industries for a subsistence wage (Pelaez, 2008). For the businesspersons who have invested in the prison industry, however, it has been like finding a ‘pot of gold.’ All of their workers are full­time, and never arrive late or are absent. Moreover, if they don’t like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation