The Department believes it must employ every able-bodied prisoner in the system in an assignment that provides meaningful work experiences. This is because the Department believes that sufficient work assignments will affect:

• Crime reduction
  
  
• Prison Management
  
  
• Prisoner self-sufficiency

MSI assists the Department in this goal by providing an opportunity for prisoners to learn marketable skills and to acquire sound work experience. Prison industry programs attempt to address the problem of crime and the tension and idleness in prison resulting from overcrowding through providing these excellent work opportunities.

Michigan prisons, as do many prisons throughout the country, contain a disproportionately large group of persons who have been unemployed or underemployed for all the work-age years of their lives. This may result from a lack of education, poor role models, discrimination or from residence in an area of the state which has high unemployment. Whatever the cause, many prisoners lack employable skills and, even more importantly, lack good work habits.

Many researchers believe there is a connection between unemployment and crime, that employed persons commit less crime and most prisoners have been chronically unemployed.

Additionally, MSI contributes to the economic self-sufficiency of working prisoners and their families. Even though wages are comparatively small, they are significantly larger than those paid to prisoners working in "non-industry" assignments. Money earned on the assignment is frequently sent home to help dependents and is often saved for use when the prisoner returns to society.