Private prisons have become the norm in the United States due to mass incarceration. As private prisons continue to grow, we must take into account the effectiveness of these types of prisons. Many will debate that private prisons are not being used for rehabilitative and deterrence of crime, but for profit itself. To my opinion, and in reading and watching several compelling arguments, I believe that for-profit prisons have many moral and ethical problems. A study conducted in the State of Mississippi showed that under the privately owned prison, inmates were deprived of food in order to cut costs. The study also found that inmates were ruthlessly underfed, resulting in becoming overly thin. Prisoners were said to have dropped a maximum …show more content…
Over the past 20 years, the CCA has seen an increase in profits of approximately 500 percent. This growth does not show any signs of coming to a halt. In addition, the CCA is said to have approached at least 48 states thus far requesting to take over government-run prisons. Furthermore, it must be noted that one in every four Americans is incarcerated. With only five percent of the world’s population, the United States has 25 percent of all inmates. It is upsetting to believe that in America prisoners are responsible for the high revenue in private prison companies. Many states have even signed agreements with private prison companies, guaranteeing that they will fill certain number of beds in jail at a given point. Ninety percent is the common rate; however, some private prisons have been able to get away with 100 percent. Although many of the for-profit companies deny allegations for campaigning donations and lobbying, it is said that for-profit corporations have spent approximately 45 million dollars to maintain politicians on their side. One example of this would be providing free transportation to politician; another would be lobby for harsher criminal law in order to increase the number of incarceration just for profit. . . . . .