Corrections professionals are increasingly preoccupied with the economics of budgeting. But while our own operational and fiscal concerns run deep, very few consider the underground economy of prisoners. How does it all work? What can we do to increase safety amid the overwhelming forces of supply and demand?
The underground market is far more complex than the individual activities performed by unconnected actors. Just as the world economic spectrum has a variety of systems — think of the differences between Adam Smith and Karl Marx — there is a diversity of motivations and systems in prisoners’ unauthorized economics. You need to find the root of contraband exchange in your facility in order to uncover the most effective method for combating the problem.
Contraband economic systems model
The contraband economic systems model can be easily illustrated by a simple triangle. The top of the triangle is the abstract, and as one descends the triangle, concepts become more tangible.
The top part of the triangle represents the five major systems of illicit inmate economy. There are at least 5 different mercantile paradigms that could define this abstract; Monopolist, Oligopolist, Multinational, Inside Trader, and Chaotic.
The bottom part of this model symbolizes specializations that can be found within these systems. There are many kinds of prisoner entrepreneurs. Some prisoners will specialize in a single commodity while others diversify and barter many categories of products.
Five categories of illicit inmate economy
There are five basic types of barter system in the world of prisoners:
Monopolist — Almost everyone has heard of the board game Monopoly, a diversion in which all players compete in real estate transactions with the goal of bankrupting adversaries and controlling all the available resources. In the prison economy, the Monopolist dominates all trade in an area. For example, if your facility has one prisoner who seems to control all gambling transactions, he is a Gambling Monopolist. Not as common, but still possible, is the offender who rules all trade in an institution. This is called the Mega-Monopolist. This variety of trader is more likely to be found in a very small lock-up than in a large facility. Of the five system types, the Monopolist is the most conservative investor and most organized thinker.
Oligopolist — This is a situation dominated by a handful of competitors. No single inmate in this paradigm has the undisputed advantage or controlling share of the market. Often, as a matter of pragmatism, oligopolists operate as colleagues. The more organized and compromising the parties, the more success there is to be shared. There can even be a relative peace in this divided entrepreneurship. But the division of the revenue pie is not done as a matter of fairness, but of relatively equal strength. At any time, a monopoly can emerge from an oligopoly. Business is, after all, business.
Multinational — Sometimes forces outside a prison control commerce. The largest and most successful Multinationals have commercial tentacles in all facilities in a corrections system. This is usually found in the form of organized crime providing services to the incarcerated. The most organized Multinational will keep a careful tab on vending agents who are incarcerated. If one of these prisoners (sales representatives) transfers to another facility, arrangements are made on the outside to install a new business associate.
Inside traders — Unfortunately for official operations of prisons, some staff members take a wrong turn in their vocation. These staff members are exactly what prisoners known as ‘Inside Traders’ need in order to operate. In this scheme, corrupt staff obtain goods from the outside and facilitate sales with a prisoner liaison inside. Key inmates call the shots behind the scenes. They may make staff believe that they are in control, but this is usually not the case. To complicate the ruse further, more than one staff agent in an institution may be on the prisoner payroll. The corrupt staff members are the wild card in all of this. If they inform their superiors of their indiscretions, the empire of the Inside Trader collapses.
Chaotic — This type of agent is not a good planner. They are diametrically opposed to the Monopolist in business strategy. Their goal is to quickly make money and acquire power. There is little long-term structure to their plan. This results in disorganized fluctuations of trade which are sometimes violent. Turbulence occurs when ambitious competitors attempt to fill the vacuum when Chaotics experience a downward trend in commerce. Like inside traders, this disjointed group causes great disturbances when business turns bad.
Specialist contraband distributors
Prisoners that specialize in the distribution of specific products can make the wheels of illegal commerce spin faster. No review of contraband would be complete without the discussion of the operations of individual unauthorized specialists.
Specialists can become potent forces and have the potential to destabilize institutional operations. An economically powerful prisoner is able to orchestrate hits on other prisoners or staff. Other prisoners may gravitate to those that have an implied edge over others. The mix of interpersonal dynamics that results is mind-boggling. Some prisoners become more powerful through unofficial trade and will desperately protect their ill-gotten goods, regardless of the consequences.
These incarcerated entrepreneurs peddle a variety of goods to make their stay behind bars as comfortable as possible. Finding the root of that exchange is the secret to snubbing it out. Some categories are:
- Law Vender sells legal advice or services regarding lawsuits, grievances, assistance in fighting misconduct reports, or everyday dealing with staff.
- Stationary Store services include making greeting cards or love letters, typing services, washing stamps, or other office supplies
- Vice Peddler sells tobacco, drugs, prison-made alcohol (a.k.a. ‘spud juice’), or sexual services (of course, the main vendor of sexual services might be self-representative or ‘pimping’ others)
- Bookie sells a chance to win money, stamps, or other goods through gambling
- Communications Seller may sell telephone time or PIN numbers on telephone cards Individuals may dominate the phone to command a fee from others for its use.
- Information Broker offers personal information as a manner to coerce, manipulate, or intimidate staff or other prisoners
- General Store offers a wide variety of wares from food to hygiene products
- Book Store rents or sells book to others (which are often illegally obtained from the institutional library)
Within the ranks of the incarcerated, there are some very clever sales people. Everything has a price. It is important to identify the systems and specialties of unsanctioned sales agents in order to apply proper administrative sanctions and keep your facility safe.
