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Examples Of Profit Over Progress: How Private Prisons Increase Recidivism

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Alyssa Arellano Professor May English 1302-42218 March 1, 2024 Profit Over Progress: How Private Prisons Increase Recidivism Rates? A prison is a place where criminals are supposed to go to be punished for a crime that they have committed, but also where they are supposed to go through rehabilitation and become productive members of society. The original goal when creating these institutions was to make them with the intention of lowering the rate of and preventing recidivism, which is the tendency to re-offend. Prisons are supposed to be about rehabilitation, but unfortunately, that isn't the case in some private institutions. Private prisons, also known as for-profit correctional facilities, are institutions operated by private organizations …show more content…

Over the last 20-plus years, there has been a 5% increase in the population of private prisons, but the overall imprisoned population itself has not changed drastically (Budd). Private prisons are continually growing and profiting from the imprisonment of criminals, but to understand how or why, we must start with why they were created in the first place. Private prisons were created to address overcrowding and budget issues of the government facilities by offering a cheaper option to house inmates (Mukherjee). Many states and the federal government turn to private institutions to house their inmates when their facilities begin to overflow with new prisoners. This is considered beneficial to supporters of private prisons because it is cheaper per inmate per day to house them in a private facility and therefore saves the government money. However, since these private facilities are paid per diem for each bed filled and have little government regulations, this can create a conflict of interest as the private institutions are motivated by income and have no real incentives to prevent recidivism (Mukherjee

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For example the federal state, lease system and county governments pay private companies a fee for each inmate. Which means that they are able to keep prisoners as long as they want to keep their facilities filled. “Important evidence of the abuse that takes place behind the walls and gates of private prisons, it came to light in connection with a lawsuit filed by one of the prisoners who was bitten by a dog” pg. 96.

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He argues that privately contracted prisons reduce cost of corrections for federal and state budgets. Seiter explains how private and public corrections are not competitors but partners. Partners that “ are proud of the services they deliver and are committed to meeting the expectations of the taxpayer and public official responsible overseeing their work” (Seiter 419). Private prisons have the ability to buy the fundamental supplies, hire more staff to avoid overtime expense which lower the operating costs to run the prison and make more profit. Setier accurately states that over the past decade “ new growth in prison inmates is going to private prison” (419).

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In chapter 13 of Corrections in America, the author describes the history of private-sector involvement in corrections and identifies its advantages. The author also describes how prison inmates were considered slaves of the state. Overall, this chapter compares gatekeepers and rainmakers. A private sector correctional facility is any prison, for-profit prison, detention center, is a facility in which juveniles and adults are physically restricted, housed, or interned by a nongovernmental organization which is constructed by a public-sector government agency.

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Private prisons were constructed as a response to the overcrowding in federal prisons during the 1980s; many people speculate whether or not private prisons are good or bad. Critics argue that private prisons like any business are driven by profit, and prisons profit from the amount of criminals they are able to contain which gives the private prisons and their shareholders incentive to keep the prison population high and expenses low. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency estimates that over the next ten years state and federal expenditures on prisons will amount to $351 billion6. These government subsidies along with the support of private prison shareholders allow the prison industrial complex to keep their power and influence

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Ever since For-Profit prisons started, jails have been overcrowded and are distributing inmates into prisons in neighboring states, such as Arizona, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Judges and the government only have one thing in mind. Profit. As a result of wanting more profit, judges are convicting more prisoners for petty crimes. Therefore, For-Profit prisons have more employees to make more products.

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Private prisons are seen as a money-making investment and not a place of rehabilitation, and thus the prisoners needs are viewed in dollar signs. Without laws and governmental overseeing, private prisons can restrict the amenities available to prisoners. Although prisoners still maintain the majority of rights that non-prisoners do according to the law, the quality of life in private prisons is strictly at the mercy of millionaires who are looking to maximize their profits (Tencer 2012). In order to maintain those max profits, the prisons must stay full. Private prisons often have stricter rules that result in extended sentences for what are usually minor

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Looking at the statistics, the number of prisoners has multiplied by almost 800% from 1980 – 2013, is the primary reason why the federal state has first resorted to the privatization of prisons, the same sentiment was related by the Justice Department’s Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, to prevent overcrowded public facilities of federal jailhouses. However, with the report that he has released earlier in August, it turned out that private prisons are now more problematic and violent than its public

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Current policy allows government agencies to fund private, non-profit correctional facilities (also referred to as private prisons). While new policies to end federal contracts with private prisons have been issued, government agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), continue to work with private prisons now known as immigration detention facilities. The continued support of private prisons by government agencies for the last four decades has sparked public debate. “Conflict over the direction of government policy” on private prisons has resulted in the use of private prisons to be an unresolved public policy issue (1). Modern private, for-profit correctional facilities emerged in the 1980s that allowed private corporations to have full operational control for the first time.

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The typical examination of private prisons seeks a comparison between public and private institutions based on numerical data, including average cost per inmate, total expenses, profits, and violence rates. However, these studies often compare facilities that do not share similar characteristics (total population, security level, and average age of inmates, for instance) and consider different factors when evaluating the impact of privatization. As a result, they often reach ambiguous conclusions regarding the impact of privatization on prison quality. In order to provide a distinct perspective on the privatization of correctional facilities, this essay will take a different approach. Instead of comparing public and private facilities, it will focus on analyzing the potential benefits of prison privatization and examining the economic factors that translate the theoretical advantages of privatization into actual gains, keeping in mind that private firms should be motivated with external incentives to increase the quality and efficiency of the prison

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There are good things about prisons. There are private prisons that can handle jobs that the regular prisons can’t. Private prisons can help inmates with addiction to lower recidivism rate (ProCon.org). Some of these prisons help inmates stay out of prison for good. Some prisons can stop violence from happening around the prison.

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Private prisons have been increasing more and more over the decade and this is due to the fact that private prisons are handed to a third party to handle and manage thus causing the government to worry about one less thing on their agenda. Not only have private prisons been increasing because it is one less thing for the government to worry about but also because the it benefits the government with more cost-efficient prisons. To further elaborate on the above statement, private prisons are run by third parties and due to this it leads to a reduced cost because when it is run by third parties, third parties do not have to follow the same rules a government prison would. For example, private prisons can pay much less for security than a government

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We must further educate ourselves on what is truly happening with private prisons and reevaluate the United States prison system as a whole. Privately owned prisons should be gotten rid of because of their immoral nature.

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Finally, the cost and quotas associated with these particular prisons further promote dehumanization. Privatized prisons reduce the cost of housing inmates but at what cost? Private prisons have the authority to overcrowd their cells. This can be considered an aspect of dehumanization because the inmates would not have any space. The report from In the Public Interest dove into the areas of prison life that one would not even know existed such as minimum occupancy guarantees or low crime taxes that some states found themselves wrapped up in.

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The privatization has a much more positive connotation due to its relationship with capitalism, yet thus far prison privatization has been a spectacular flavor but with considerable reform will be successful. While capitalism may be good for business, it does not appear to be a good fit for prisons. Many past studies and crimes against humanity have shown that the best-proven method to keeping a large number of people in order and under the control of their authority is by dehumanizing and using significant force as seen in the Stanford prison experiment. If private prisons were to employ such methods, it would decrease the number of guards necessary, but would certainly violate the rights of the inmates. Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) state that private institutes employ 33% fewer correctional officers

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