Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Organizational Studies
Second Department
Politics and International Relations
Reader 1
Barbara Junisbai
Reader 2
Sue Castagnetto
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2023 Laila Kent
Abstract
This two part zine illuminates the shared mechanisms that construct and respond to ‘crime’, also define and treat illness in the US. Part 1 uncovers the status quo of our prison and health care system via the emergence of the The Prison-Industrial Complex (PIC), and The Medical-Industrial Complex (MIC). Through an exploration of the respective and overlapping histories, logics, and realities underlying the function of these systems, the mechanisms of individualism, objectification, and profiteering become strikingly clear. Part 2 breaks free of the status quo outlined in Part 1 by introducing abolition as the vision and strategy to heal from the root causes of harm. By centering preventative systems of care and building interdependent relationships, we can build thriving communities that reject and no longer depend on narrow, individualist, profit-driven responses to crime and illness. I hope this work pushes you to question the deep-seeded narratives and boundaries we have between these seemingly opposite oriented systems, and leaves you with the courage to reimagine and fight for what health and safety means to you.
Recommended Citation
Kent, Laila, "Crime, Illness, & Abolition: an exploration through the connective tissue within the PIC/MIC Matrix" (2023). Scripps Senior Theses. 2022.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2022
Included in
Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Other Political Science Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Social Justice Commons
