Privatization of prisons involves the creation of prisons for profit making purposes. The private prisons are meant for locking up the criminals so as to help the government reduce the congestion of criminals in the government prisons. Privatization of the prisons involves contracting the custody and taking care of the prisoners by the third parties. The contracted parties engage in the business of locking up the criminals at a charge. The owners of the private facilities for keeping prisoners are paid on a monthly basis per each prisoner. The government takes the responsibility of paying the third parties which are keeping the prisoners. Privatization of the prisons may also involve the cases where the existing public prisons are taken over by a private institution in order to control and manage them at a profit (Easton 16). The private institutions, therefore, takes care of the prisoners including all the programs like training and rehabilitation sessions for the prisoners.
The main driving force towards privatization of prisons is the explosive rise in the number of criminal activities in the U.S. The act of privatization is, therefore, meant to enable the government outsource this activity so as to enable the government concentrate on the most important aspects as improving the economy of the country.
In my opinion, the prisons should be privatized in the U.S in order to enable the government diverts its attention to the most productive activities. This will enable the government to concentrate its attention on issues like economic development. The task of prisons care is not a productive task to the country, therefore, it should be outsourced in order to enable the government reduces the tasks and activities so as to major on the most important ones.
The prisons should be privatized in the U.S in that it encourages the creation of new ideas. Private providers of prison services help in the development of new ideas with respect to management and taking care of the prisoners. This will also help in facilitating flexibility in taking care of the prisoners. The private providers of prison services will have enough time to concentrate on how the prisons should be run and managed in the most effective and efficient manner.
The exercise of privatizing prisons is of the essence in ensuring that the private providers are fully held accountable for the location and keeping of records pertaining to each prisoner. The spirit of competition between the private providers will help in improving the way in which prisons are managed especially in relation to rehabilitation programs. This spirit of competition will help in improving the nature of the operation of the prisons in the U.S.
Privatization of prisons has developed rapidly overtaking the performance of the public prisons in the provision of adequate services to the inmates in the late nineties. For instance, in the United Kingdom as well as the United States, the contracting of the prisons from the public to private companies had developed immensely in the nineties.
Privatization of prisons helps in the uplifting of the services provided to the inmates in the prisons and also advancement in the quality of performances of different sections or departments in prisons. This is not the case in public prisons because most of them were old.
The public prisons are also not subjected to commercial confidentiality like in the private sector. The following factors indicate the improvement of quality in private prisons. They provide better resource management and operational effectiveness as well as order and control of staff motivation than the public prisons. Secondly, the private prisons provide better decency and safety of the conditions and other inmates’ experience. They also play a critical role in the reduction of inmates committing the same offences after they serve their sentences in prison.to this achieve this they treat those inmates who are under the influence of drugs, resettlement of the landless as well as needs assessment and treatment of bad behavior
Contracting of prisons paved way to the development of private prisons that provided better public protection, unlike the existing public sector. This was effected through the initiation of better risk management techniques and parole. Most of the private prisons are meeting their set targets which better off than the public ones which would not even meet a quarter of their target. Hence more preferable to public prisons. For prisoners with short term sentences, private prisons have s fewer reoffending cases as compared to the public sector. This shows that there are better rehabilitative programs in the private prisons. Contracting of prisons to private companies ensures effective management of finances. This is because the private prisons are managed in small units and hence it experiences few cases of mismanagement, unlike the public prisons which are managed by a common body in one country (Hickey 26).
Contracting of prisons helps in the reduction of costs of operation and maintenance as well as increase in efficiency of operation in prisons systems. Private prisons are managed effectively and hence the level of resources that go to waste are very minimal. This, therefore, means that the total level of resources used is less and in turn low cost are incurred in the process. Private prisons also exhibits flexibility in the workforce more than the public prisons. This, therefore, ensures smooth running of activities between one department and in between different departments.
The initiation of the flexibility in working conditions as well as increase in innovative levels among the staff ensures the development of a cohesive staff culture in the prisons and the improvement in inmates' relationship with others as well as with the management. This will in turn help, in the creation of peaceful environment in the prison, therefore, reducing the levels of prison breaks or unrest which are very common in public prisons. Lastly, private prison experiences very few cases of escapes among the prisoners. This is because of the better rehabilitation strategies that are used in rehabilitating inmates (Whitehead 18). They also allow more time for visiting of inmates by their family members and friends which in turn help in improving the relationship between the inmates and the prison management.
In conclusion, the prisons should be privatized in order to improve the quality of services and care of the prisoners in the U.S. Privatization of prisons is of the essence in that it helps in improving the quality of services offered in the prison. The private prisons group the prisoners according to their age so as to reduce the cases of death and exploitation of weak prisoners by others. The aspects relating to cost reduction by private providers will enable effectiveness and efficiency in prison management. The reduction of crowds in the prisons will help improve the general status of the prisons in the U.S.
Works Cited
Easton, Susan, and Christine Piper. Sentencing and Punishment: The Quest for Justice. Oxford: OUP Oxford, 2012. Print.
Hickey, Thomas J, and Tom Devaney. Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print.
Whitehead, Philip, and Paul Crawshaw. Organising Neoliberalism: Markets, Privatisation and Justice. London: Anthem Press, 2012. Print.
