Prison–industrial complex

The prison–industrial complex is a system which involves the government using privately-owned prisons to lock people up, usually for crimes. Private companies, usually called 'prison corporations', run these prisons and are paid by the government to do so. So, the government pays money to the prison corporations and, in return, the prison corporations lock people up and take care of them, usually until the person's sentence (the punishment for breaking the law) is done.