Inefficiency of Private Prisons

Introduction

For-profit prisons, also known as private prisons, are the prisons in which the people are placed in the physical confines. There is also a case in which they are incarcerated by a third party that is contracted by an agency that belongs to the government sector. Most of the time, these profit prisons are supposed to enter into a contractual agreement with the governments.

Then, they pay per diem or some sort of monthly rate that is supposed to be paid for each of the facilities or the place that is available most of the time (Maschi et al. 2014). It is a different debate about whether they are occupied or not. Despite their usage, the practice has always been considered somewhat controversial, and the main argument that is set forth in each case is how the contracting prison functions in a manner that can save money, thus compromising their operations (Maschi et al. 2014). The rights and the inmates of the people are also compromised, thus making them a needless addition as far as the whole prisoner facilities are concerned. In this paper, it will be discussed why these prisons must be regulated or ended (Maschi et al. 2014).

Problems for the Minorities in the Profit Prison

Most of the time, the way these prisons are set up, they do not have the right set ratios as far as the representation of minorities is concerned (Maschi et al., 2014). If the current trend continues, there is a likelihood that one out of every four resident is going to be imprisoned during the course of their lifetime (Maschi et al. 2014). The tragic part is that about 70 % of the blacks and African Americans who are dropping out of school are likely to be part of jails. Another interesting statistic that tends to highlight the lopsided nature of the provision of justice in prisons is the fact that about 65 % of the prisoners who are located in these facilities are African Americans (Maschi et al., 2014). This means that there is a lack of regulation regarding the way these facilities are supposed to work, and a lot of work needs to be done to ensure that the whites are handled in the right manner (Maschi et al., 2014).

Story of Abuse and Torture in These Prisoners

Another aspect that highlights the fact that why these prisoners are a good idea is due to the fact that how instances of torture and abuse are witnessed in these prisons (Maschi et al. 2014). The biggest problem that one gets to see is the quality of food that is being served in these prisons (Stiglitz & Rosengard, 2015). As the clearing and sanitation are missing, there are many instances when rat-infested food is being served to the prisoners (Alonso & Andrews, 2016). The vendor management is also very poor, and as there are no checks and balances to make sure that the overall performance of the people is monitored, the likelihood that the poor sanitation will further impact the operation needs to be taken into consideration, to say the least (Alonso & Andrews, 2016).

Rate of Violent Assault

Another serious problem that one gets to face in these prisons is the fact that how instances of violence are witnessed in these facilities (Sliva & Samimi, 2018). As the regulations and the rules that one gets to witness in these facilities are on the lower side, the problem shows up when the fights among the inmates escalate to the manner that prisoners tend to gang up against each other (Sliva & Samimi, 2018). Due to that, there are long rivalries. The interesting statistics in this regard that shows the plight of the prisoners is that about 85 % of the prisoner have faced some sort of violence during the course o their stay at these for profit prisons (Alonso & Andrews, 2016). That raises a big question mark about the overall level of safety that one gets to see over there (Sliva & Samimi, 2018). As a matter of fact, the situation is so dire that even the juvenile prisoners are being used to make sure that the younger officers are being made part of the whole ordeal, and they are used as a means to harm the other prisoners (Alonso & Andrews, 2016).

Victimization of the Immigrants

As is the case with the African American population, the victims who are immigrants are also not safe in any way from the issues that are faced by the people at the given time period (Alonso & Andrews, 2016). The corporate prison greed and other issues that have affected the way whole issues are being resolved have raised a big question mark about the sort of treatment that is dished out to the immigrants (Stiglitz & Rosengard, 2015). Most of the time, racism and discrimination are so prominent that people who are in immigrant groups are placed in different cells (Stiglitz & Rosengard, 2015). About 70 % of the prisoners who are immigrants have faced violence of one type or another during the course of the whole issue (Alonso & Andrews, 2016). Due to the inefficient structure that one gets to see over there, the other problem that is faced by the people is how the number of inmates is managed, as even the prison staff does not treat them in the right manner (Alonso & Andrews, 2016).

Exploitation of the Families of the Prisoners

One of the major issues that is being faced in these prisons is the fact that how the corporations and their affiliates are supposed to work and how they do everything in their power to make sure that the people are bucked off in the prison one way or the another (Stiglitz & Rosengard, 2015). For instance, speaking to the families is one of the basic rights of the prisoners in any facility (Stiglitz & Rosengard, 2015). What really happens in private prisons is astonishing due to the fact that about $ 1 per minute is being charged to the prisoners if they want to talk to their families over the telephone or another medium. If the prisoners are not able to pay that fee, the likelihood that they will face further isolation in prison makes the situation all the more difficult for them (Stiglitz & Rosengard, 2015). As a matter of fact, it turns out to be a major source of revenue for the prisoners, to say the least (Alonso & Andrews, 2016).

Conclusion

There are many ways through which one can see that private prisons are not running in the right manner. There is a clear need to make sure that they are being regularized in one way or another (Alonso & Andrews, 2016). It’s wrong to profit from the imprisonment of human beings and the suffering of their friends and families (Alonso & Andrews, 2016). It’s time to end this morally repugnant practice and, along with it, the era of mass incarceration. In the “kids for cash“scandal, business people actually paid judges to send young people to their often-brutal facilities (Alonso & Andrews, 2016).

References

Alonso, J. M., & Andrews, R. (2016). How privatization affects public service quality: An empirical analysis of prisons in England and Wales, 1998–2012. International Public Management Journal, 19(2), 235-263.

Maschi, T., Marmo, S., & Han, J. (2014). Palliative and end-of-life care in prisons: A content analysis of the literature. International journal of prisoner health, 10(3), 172-197.

Sliva, S. M., & Samimi, C. (2018). Social Work and Prison Labor: A Restorative Model. Social Work.

Stiglitz, J. E., & Rosengard, J. K. (2015). Economics of the Public Sector: Fourth International Student Edition. WW Norton & Company.