Question

1. Privatization of prisons has been suggested as a means of improving the allocation of resources in corrections. What are some of the pros and cons in support of this?

Answer 1

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRISON

Firstly we have to address the question that what are the differences between the public prisons and the private prisons. Public prison are completely run by the government, all the services and the security is under the direct control of the government. The government officers would be appointed for the smooth running of the prisons. And then comes the question, the privatization of the public prisons which means the private prison. In the case of the private prison the government would make a contract with a third party, a private cooperation. And the company will be responsible to provide to the services to the prisoners. Here one of our doubt will regards on the profit generation for this private firm and it is often solved by providing the government grants for the prisoners. It is the basic structure and the functioning of the private prison.

PROS OF PRIVATE PRISON

One of the important advantage of the private prison is the reduction of the cost by government. The government has to spend a large contribution of the income for the establishment and for the functioning of the prisons. When the government makes a contract with the third party then the government's function is only to supply the prisoners and ensure the functioning of the prisons. When the government spend own money for the prisoners and for the functioning of prisons it is far higher than what the government awards for the private prisons.

The private prisons will charge for the number of inmates and this will be helpful for the government at the time of budget making. The private company who owns the contract has less regulations than the government and they can employ people at less cost than the government employ the workers. Hence they can also make profit by the grants award by the government. For example if the government award $100,per prisoner they will efficiently use this and make profit from this amount.

The proponents of the private prison argues that the private prison provides a better living conditions and which is more safe for the prisoners. And they will provide various programs and services for the prisoners to acquire more abilities at the time in prison. And when compared to public owned prisons the private prisons are more effective than that.

CONS OF PRIVATE PRISON

The ultimate aim of the company those who contract with the government for the functioning of the private prison will be none other than the profit. The corporation can create the income only by cutting the costs of functioning, and then the question arise whether this private company can provide all the services for the prisoners. The company can make the profit by not providing the essential services to the prisoners. The prisoners will be treated in a harsh manner and without mercy. The living conditions may be too low and difficult to adapt. Another negative factor is the lack of transparency in the entire system of prisons.

There also arise a question with the private prison. Whether the aim of the prison is to generate the profits. This is not a business to generate the profit by regulating the prisons. The rehabilitation of the prisoners is the ultimate goal of the prison. Think of the situation, prison is for profit, then what will they need to generate the profit? The answer is simple more and more prisoners, and a hike in the crime rate of the population. So the most noted cons are the profit making idea and the lack of lucency.