Second, it's an activity, and that's good. Third, and probably most important of all, the development of work habits is essential to successfully reenter the workforce. Many prisoners don't have them because they haven't worked a lot. Badger State Industries has proven to be somewhat successful in helping inmates stay out of prison after they've served out their sentences. In Wisconsin, the results are probably due largely to the fact that BSI's 10 factories hire workers and run their businesses as if they were private-sector ventures, which helps inmates gear up for similar situations they will encounter in society.
Prisoners fill out applications, and are called for interviews on the basis of their work history.
But making prison work too businesslike could be counterproductive, says Dickey, because it results in prison industries cherrypicking the best prisoners. To maximize rehabilitation, Dickey favors running as many prisoners as possible through the jobs. In 1987, state and federal prisons housed 551,328 inmates. Since then that number has doubled, and by the year 2000, more than 1,700,000 inmates will be housed in the nation's state and federal correctional institutions. Wisconsin's prison population is expected to nearly double, from 8,948 inmates in 1994 to 15,846 by the year 2000, according to the Department of Corrections.