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.
Most of the correctional services and agencies before 1980 involved private sector providers. It provided services ranging from training and education to medical care and food to probation and parole services. From the time of John Augustus, most of the juvenile and adult halfway houses were provided by private for profit, private nonprofit, or charitable organizations. Due to the overcrowding of jails, many entrepreneurs in the private and private nonprofit sectors have become in the boom industry.
With 105 prisons being public and 14 being private sector there have been long discussions and decisions being made to make numerous public sector run prisons, private. The quality of service provided by private prisons is being faced with criticism that quality is being reduced to improve efficiency. Michel Gove has to make sure he is being efficient with his finances to run public prisons as he is facing 40% budget cuts. This table shows how the private and public prisons budgets have been split over the past 5 years: The public sector figures for 2015/16 exclude budgets that will be added over the course of the year which includes the prison industries, contractors’, escorts and learning and skills. 2016 will be the first full year with the prisons and offender management system going through the new reformed system with a new budget of £3,230.414m programmes resource expenditure and a further £8.000m capital expenditure and a new focus of stabilisation of the system including finances and public value (Ministry of Justice, 2015) Justice Minister Jeremy Wright gave a statement to The Telegraph (2013) on private prisons that states: ”The cost of running our prisons is too high and must be reduced.
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
First, there are not enough staff to monitor the inmates in private prisons. The reason is because labor costs is controlled by reducing number of staff, wages, and fringe benefits. The reduce in staff has caused inmates to lose their lives. Secondly, many workers within these facilities are inexperienced with key corrections
By the government allowing corporations to buy, and build new prisons gave that much more of an incentive to keep the prisons flowing with inmates. According to Vicky Pelaez “Private prisons are the biggest business in the prison industry complex. About 18 corporations guard 10,000 prisoners in 27 states. Private prisons receive a guaranteed amount of money for each prisoner, independent of what it costs to maintain each one.” (6) Once you get trapped inside this prison machine they can and will work for cents a day.
United States Prisons: A Mental Cage The United States is one of the world’s most recognized and powerful superpowers since its industrial and commercial production along with their nearly limitless military budget make them practically invincible. This demonstrates the power of the United States on foreign soil and problems, yet many internal problems in the United States are left disregarded and neglected, simply thrown away. Citizens and lawmakers remain silent on several key social issues and on one of the biggest shameful topics of neglect, America’s incarceration rate.
In the US, the number of private prisons is continuously increasing at such a rate that it started to raise some eyebrows. What benefits are gained from these institutions and what is being sacrificed? This topic is increasingly causing a controversy and sparking debate among opposite sides. To gain a good perspective about this, let us
(BBC, 2013). Juliet Lyon agreed, she claimed this would be “pouring taxpayers’ money down the prison building drain”. She added that this investment should be put into preventing crime and health care instead. She also said smaller local prisons are safer and better at reducing recidivism rates. Joe Simpson agreed and said the MoJ are choosing to overcrowd prisons to cut costs, over focusing on
Prisons that are managed by the government is the most effective form of prison system. The government is responsible for the services that the citizens want to be provided publicly and are willing to pay (Gregson, 2000). Privatization means that there will be more government spending as the government will be the financier as they shift the functions and responsibilities to the private sector (Gregson, 2000). Private prisons can raise concerns on how are they managed.
Privatization of prisons will only increase from here on out because of the fact that it saves the states and increase revenues overall. It’s all a business and why not incarcerate more people just to make a profit it seems. According to Gragg, “Wackenhut corrections is part of a global empire which offers an array of services in fifty countries” (Gragg 2). Wackenhut corrections has diversified itself enough to set its foot in prisons but at the end of the day it is a business and the cost per inmate may take precedence over the overall safety of the inmates or the community that the prison’s presence can have on the community it surrounds. When a particular state signs a low crime tax or a bed guarantee they will be forced to source those inmates from the surrounding communities if they inmates are not sent from elsewhere.
Prison privatization, dramatically increased in the 1980s under the Reagan and Bush administration. It is estimated that there are around 18 major corporations serving around 10,000 inmates in 27 States. The use of privatized contract firms is based upon improved efficiencies and cost reduction programs. The government alone could no longer cope with the long expansion of crime and need for more jail
Moreover, these private prison companies get its long-term profit, which increases by in increasing their man-days, with several political strategies (Ashton). Private prison companies rely upon the government budgets and concerns of overcrowding (Tylek). In 2009 there were 502 people in prison per 100,000, an increase of 722 percent since 1970. It went fro 196,429 to 1.6 million people in 2009 (Ashton). The number of people held in private federal facilities increased approximately 120 percent since 2000.
The controversy between state-ran prisons versus private prisons started in 1852, when the first U.S. private prison was introduced. Escapes, riots, and in-prison crimes happen substantially more in private prisons than in public prisons.
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
