Provide an overview of the emerging trend of privatization of jail and prison facilities.
For the past few decades the government correctional institutions started outsourcing their different jail and prison functions to the private agencies. The government took the initiative to privatize the jail and prison facilities to curtail the escalating correctional expenses and to reduce the pressure of inmates from overcrowded prisons. In 1991, number of private prisons was 44, in 1994 it was 88, and in 2000 there were 184 private prisons. (Perrone, D., & Pratt, T., n.d.). From1990 number of inmates in private facilities rose from 7771 to 129336 in 2009, which is an increase of 1664%. The quantum leap of inmate’s number is due to the stringent strategies of the government against crime. (Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration, 2011).
Out of 153 new prisons and jails opened during 2000 to 2005 in the United States, 151 were private, and in 2008 private prisons accommodated 8% of the U.S. prisoners. (Kirchhoff, S., 2010)
What are the benefits to the U.S. correctional system, to inmates, and to society?
The U.S. correctional system has various rehabilitation and welfare programs for the inmates. In most cases it is found that the inmates had least opportunity to gain access to education before their imprisonment. During their sentence, the inmates get the opportunity to increase their academic qualification, under the prison education programs and their academic credentials help them to get job after their release from prison. Postsecondary Correctional Education programs help the imprisoned male and female to gain access to the higher education. (Erisman,W., & Contardo, J., 2005).
The programs run by the U.S. correctional system benefits the society in various ways. The correctional programs improve the potentiality of inmates to become self-reliant, make them eligible to earn living after their release and get a chance to return to the mainstream of life. The programs have great significance to reduce recidivism and reduce the growth in the crime rate. Former inmates with jobs contribute economically to the society in the form of taxes and purchasing power. (Skorton, D., & Altschuler, G., 2013)
Why is cost a prevailing factor in privatization becoming more popular than ever before?
U.S. has highest per capita incarceration rate in the world, and incarceration in the country is rapidly rising due to the strict sentencing law.
The national annual correctional expense in 2006 was $68.7 billion, and in some states the correctional expenses are much higher than their budget allocation for higher education or for other development programs. Between 2008 and 2018 the expected growth of correctional workforce is 9% to control the rising pressure of incarcerated population. (Kirchhoff, S., 2010)
In a government run correctional system, employees’ salary accounts 75-80% of the entire correctional budget allotment and more growth in correctional workforce will require more budget allocation in future. So, the growth in incarceration ultimately raises the annual correctional expenditure, and creates budget constraints to initiate developmental projects and slowly weakens the economy of the country.
The privatized correctional system can comply with the requirement of correctional service cost-effectively due to their low staffing cost, can build their incarceration infrastructure, and provide the correctional service at a cheaper rate than in the public correctional systems.
So, cost is the influencing factor for privatization of the correctional institutions because, privatization of prison and jails will enable the government to stabilize their correctional expenses and allows them to allocate more funds for higher education or other development programs.
Include negative aspects of privatization and why many feel it is a detriment.
The initiative to privatize the jails and prisons is detrimental to the society in some views, because, in many cases private prison operators are paid according to the number of inmates. So, the firms driven by the intention of profit making may negatively influence for longer sentence of inmates for keeping bed space filled. (Austin, J., & Coventry, G., 2001)
The correctional programs of jail and prison contribute largely to reduce recidivism but, an increased recidivism is a steady source of income for the private prison operators, so, such rehabilitation programs may lose their significance in privatized jails and prison facilities, and induce more recidivism in future.
Reference:
Austin, J., & Coventry, G. (2001, February). Emerging Issues on Privatized Prisons. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/181249.pdf.
Erisman, W., & Contardo, J. (2005). Learning to reduce recidivism. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://www.ihep.org/assets/files/publications/g-l/LearningReduceRecidivism.pdf.
Kirchhoff, S. (2010, April 13). Economic Impacts of Prison Growth. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41177.pdf.
Krugman, P. (2012, June 21). Prisons, Privatization, Patronage. The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/opinion/krugman-prisons-privatization-patronage.html?_r=0.
Perrone, D., & Pratt, T. (n.d.). Comparing the Quality of Confinement and Cost-Effectiveness of Public Versus Private Prisons: What We Know, Why We Do Not Know More, and Where to Go from Here. The Prison Journal, (2003; 83; 301), 301-322. Retrieved October 30, 2014, from http://www.d.umn.edu/~jmaahs/Correctional Continuum/Online Readings/PerroneandPratt_privatization.pdf.
Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration. (2011, November 2). Banking on Bondage. New York: American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/bankingonbondage_20111102.pdf.
Skorton, D., & Altschuler, G. (2013, March 25). College Behind Bars: How Educating Prisoners Pays Off. Forbes. Retrieved October 27, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/collegeprose/2013/03/25/college-behind-bars-how-educating-prisoners-pays-off/.
