Private Prison Essay

Despite what you may think, private prisons have existed in the United States dating all the way back to 1852, beginning with the San Quentin state prison. Private prisons did not truly become as common as they are today though until President Ronald Reagan led a large-scale effort for increased privatization around the United States during the 1980’s. One result of this effort was a large upswing in the number of private prisons. As a result of private prisons becoming more common place, it has been seen that compared to prisons run by the government, length of sentences have gone up within private prisons, while at the same time the treatment of prisoners has gone down. This topic interests me because I believe that it should never be in the best interests of such a large and powerful group to have as many people as possible in prison for as long as possible. In my opinion, it is not ethically correct on a basic human level to ever have it in people’s best interests to keep other people in prison. I chose this topic because I have always held a strong opinion on this topic but have never had the time to do extensive research on it and either confirm or dispel my current beliefs about it.

By understaffing prisons, owners save a significant amount of money because of fewer salaries, benefits, training fees, equipment, etc. Less workers puts extra stress on the prison guards who are assigned workloads usually handed to multiple guard (Blesset 24). This creates the possibility of more prison crimes involving both staff and prisoners (Benjamin 98). Guards faced with psychological and physical trauma due to stabbings or other violent crimes may behave more aggressively toward prisoners. This could create a cycle of aggression that harms all people involved with prisons. Privately owned prisons are equally (if not more) susceptible to this type of aggressive environment (Horent and Taylor 42). The lack of safety in these prison will make any logical person wonder why there is not more money inputted into safety. The answer is simply to increase

Private prison guards can be significantly undertrained and “unlike in the state sector, where new recruits undergo lengthy probation, training and induction officers…are deployed 'on the front line' almost immediately after commencing employment” (Taylor & Cooper pg.20) Private companies are willing to put their employees at risk of an attack and their facilities at risk of escapes if it means that costs will be saved. In a private prison in Scotland it was discovered that “the failure to report or the downgrading of incidents including assaults and discoveries of drugs, weapons or other banned items, or the falsification of statistics in order to prevent the prison from incurring fines, were systemic.” (pg.23) The lack of government oversight creates a hazardous environment in these private prisons. Regulations and rules are neglected and as this happens the facilities become more and more

Crime rates are down in America, yet there is an unproportionately large number of Americans incarcerated. This paper will delve into and examine this problem and how it is closely linked to private prisons and the issues surrounding them. While private prisons claim to be cost effective and well-run, evidence has shown that these profit-driven companies ignore ethical consequences by purposefully lengthening prisoners’ sentences, target certain groups for incarceration and maintain despicable living standards for the prisoners; ultimately, these prisons have caused more harm than good for the state.

In America today, there is a trend in corrections of taking the duty of running prisons out of the hands of state and federal authorities and contracting it out to private organizations. Along with the drift to privatization is a plethora of research pertaining to the subject taking many different approaches to analyzing the effectiveness. The majority of research focuses on one of three areas. The first questioning whether or not it is cost effective to make the switch. The second being the ethical problems that can and have risen from the privatization of prisons. The third being a wide painting of the change and the implications it has on society as a whole.

According to Alex Tabarrok, privately managed facilities can have cost savings of 15-25% on prison edification and 15% on administrative expenses. Likewise, private prisons generate competition and exert pressure towards public prisons. They encourage public prisons to also innovate and lower costs. Other studies (Lundahl et al. 2009, page 392) argue, “prison privatization provides neither a clear advantage nor disadvantage compared with publicly managed prisons.”

Thesis: Private prisons actually exacerbate many of the issues they were designed to solve by incentivizing increased incarceration, and at the same time they produce lower value than regular prisons while ultimately costing more, such that private prisons should be abolished and incarceration should remain exclusively public.

Private prisons have a monetary incentive to keep their prison filled to the max (Mason, Too Good to be True Private Prisons in America). Public prisons on the other hand spend more money and effort on rehabilitation efforts and reintroducing people back into society in a healthy manner. One way in which private prisons reduce costs is by cutting the amount of training and pay prison staff are given as well as the number of staff which in turn leads to a less safe prison. The statistics point to an increase in riots, inmate violence, and even assault on prison staff (Mason, Too Good to be True Private Prisons in America). The quality of healthcare is another major issue in private prisons compared to public prisons and is one such reason why the amount of money spent per prisoner is less in private prisons (Smith, Why the U.S. Is Right to Move Away from Private Prisons). As well as spending less on those who need it, private prisoners do a certain amount of cherry picking taking only healthier and thus cheaper prisoners to hold within their \walls (Smith, Why the U.S. Is Right to Move Away from Private Prisons). Private prisons state innovation and creative methods as the reason for saving money as opposed to public prisons but there

The only way for the private prison system to work is through the American taxpayers. Private prisons still function similarly to government prisons as in both systems the taxpayers pay a certain dollar amount per prisoner; this funding is suppose to pay for all the expenses prisoners have. The private system, however, is using much less of that money for the actual inmates. In addition, private prisons “cherry pick” the inmates that will get them the most profit. To do this, they only take healthy inmates.

580). Gran and Henry (2007-2008) argue that evidence of efficiency in private prisons provides questionable support, in part because of difficulty in comparing private and government-run prisons. They also state that while private prisons may be less expensive to construct and operate, those cost savings may be “the result of cost cutting by the private firms” (p. 176). Arguments against private prisons are more ubiquitous and include the following: • “The necessity for detailed contract development, monitoring, and regulation will be so significant that it will eat up any savings achieved through privatization;” • “The government will retain its legal liability and therefore will be liable for actions of contractors over which it has only limited

The want to maximize profits by cutting corners - at the expense of safety and decent conditions - contributes to higher level of danger in private prisons

As the number of prisoners have constantly been rising at an exceedly fast pace, several governments around the world have embraced the use of private prisons. Private prisons are confinements run by a third party, through an agreement with the government. In the United States, it is estimated that there are over 1.6 million inmates, of that there are 8% that are housed in privately-operated prisons. While the other 92% are housed in the public prison system. Private prisons have existed since the 19th century. Their use increased in the 20th century and continues to rise in some states. When a government makes an agreement with a private prison, it makes payments per prisoner or vacancy in jail on a regular basis for maintenance of the prisoners. Privatization became involved due to the fact that prisons were becoming overpopulated. Public prisons contracted the confinement and care of prisoners with other organizations. Due to the cost-effectiveness of private firms, prisons began to contract out more services, such as medical care, food service, inmate transportation, and vocational training. Over time private firms saw an opportunity for expansion and eventually took over entire prison operations. However, now their security, how they treat the inmates, and their true cost effectiveness has come into question

enrich people and corporations. Private Prisons is the State being actively involved in the trafficking of the freedom of human beings for a profit. In order to protect their profits, Private Prison corporations require the State to agree to a minimum occupancy rate which means that the State has a contractual agreement to imprison people. That means that the State agrees that every day a certain percentage of their people will be in jail. The State will make sure the police will work to ensure that these quotas are met and that the corporations are profitable. The incentive is no longer public safety, but profits and contractual obligations. The

The United States has an incarceration problem that personifies issues throughout the entire criminal justice system. "The United States, with just 5 percent of the world 's population, currently holds 25 percent of the world 's prisoners" (Khalek). This issue runs deeper than just incarceration; it permeates every level of the criminal justice system, from incarceration to probation. Many states have turned to private institutions in an attempt shed operating costs, while also increasing effectiveness throughout the criminal justice system. These acts can include anything from providing treatment programs to full blown management of the entire prison system. Overcrowding at prisons and the rising costs associated with them has led many states to turn to some form of privatization within the criminal justice system. However, privatizing the entire correction system would not be beneficial for the state, from both an ethical and a public policy standpoint.

Consequently, the conditions in many private prisons are terrible, and oversight is limited. (Edwards, 2005)” If corners were cut then the private prison would be cutting its own throat. Private prisons were seen as unfit to house inmates that were sent to prison because the prisoners could escape easier in a facility that was not run by the government.