149-150). When the inmate failed to deliver on the guards' demands, the guards then planted drugs in the inmate's bunk (p. 150). The inmate was subsequently prosecuted, and received an extended sentence (p. 150).
Often people will doubt these kinds of stories, because, after all, the inmates are already imprisoned for offenses like drugs, and often much worse kinds of crimes. This puts the inmates at risk of guards and other prison employees who might not embrace a high set of ethics or personal morals. Everyone wants to see crime punished, but when the crimes are being committed within the prison environment, people seem to be less concerned about them, even if they are crimes being committed by the guards or prison officials. People should, in fact, be very concerned about these kinds of crimes, because it is the prison officials and those employees, including guards, who are willing to commit crimes against people who are vulnerable, and then those same employees, guards or others are free, unlike the prisoners, to leave the institutions and move about society at the end of the day.
Staffing problems at the private prison is probably the greatest ethical concern, because the BOP has set high standards of personal integrity and in the number of employees who must be on duty at any given time.
Analysis and Personal Ideas
One of the problems with managing a prison is that there are not a lot of people who find the work compelling enough to want to take on the job. However, given the task, I would work to eliminate corporate private enterprise in the prison system, because inevitably the bottom line is profit. Writing for Duke Law Journal, Sharon Dolovich (2005) looked at the question of the feasibility of a private corporate system that would contain the rising cost of prison system management (in the late 1980s and 1990s) (Dolovich, p. 437). The greatest problem that Dolovich cited was the for-profit approach underlying the choice of management to replace the state system. This makes sense, because in order for a corporation to demonstrate profitability, it must demonstrate growth and an increase in revenues; this would ostensibly mitigate the sense in choosing private prison management to combat the cost of prisons for the states.
In terms of managing the system efficiently so as to recognize a potential profit for incarcerating criminals is less problematic in Dolovich's eyes than is the surrendering of that power and authority over the criminal's mandated state sentence to private enterprise (p. 437).
"Such a focus may be appropriate in many contexts in which privatization is contemplated, but it is not so in the prison context. Incarceration is among the most severe and intrusive manifestations of power the state exercises against its own citizens. When the state incarcerates, it strips offenders of their liberty and dignity and consigns them for extended periods to conditions of severe regimentation and physical vulnerability. Before seeking to ensure efficient incarceration, therefore, it must first be determined if the particular penal practice at issue is even legitimate (Dolovich, p. 437)."
Writing on the subject for the American Criminal Law Review, Ahmed A. White (2001) supports the argument made by Dolovich (p. 111). This question of legitimacy should override the others, because until someone challenges and the courts respond to whether or not handing over the state's authority is indeed legitimate; there are no subsequent issues. So Dolovich makes an important and valid point. Unfortunately there are no challenges, and the public is seemingly completely uninterested in the subject of criminals once they are off the streets and no longer pose a threat to society.
Therefore, as we have and will have, with certainly an increase in the number of them, private prison institutions are the trend and the bottom line of cost supersedes the power and the authority that the state has in being directly responsible for managing the prison systems. Therefore, it would be imperative to ensure that the management is of a high integrity, and that the inmates are not abused, or that their well being does not become lost in corporate profit. For that reason, we might require that monies set aside for healthcare of prisoners must be returned to the state if not utilized for inmate care, rather than allowing the corporation to redirect the funds to their bottom lines as appears to be happening now. The state would then always be aware of how much was budgeted, and how much was spent, versus the lack of knowledge because the funds go...
Ethics Code: Importance of Written Form A written code of ethics is highly important for the corrections system, for the simple fact that it greatly assists in keeping corrections personnel both honest and forthright in the carrying out of their duties. Additionally, a written code of ethics is fairly significant to the carrying out of various jobs performed within correctional institutions because there are a number of disparate parties that have
Ethics Awareness Inventory According to the Ethics Inventory, I fell into two categories: those who are obligation-oriented, and those who are results-oriented. In some ways, the ethical beliefs of these two categories are in conflict; for instance, usually people who base ethical decisions on obligation or duty are not as concerned with results as with principles. However, I scored high in the results-oriented category as well. I believe that my ability
Ethics Plastic The Ethics of Plastic Surgery Funding Based on the Reason for Surgery and Other Factors: A Literature-Based Briefing Since the beginnings of recorded history at least, and indeed even earlier from what archaeologists have been able to ascertain, human beings have been obsessed with their own bodies. This is evident in the earliest works of art and in some of the earliest texts, and can also be seen in certain
A written policy regarding sexual misconduct is imperative, as is stringent hiring practices including applicant screening, adequate supervision, training, and a structured investigative process regarding allegations of sexual misconduct (Abner et al., 2011). Addressing Sexual Offenses further states that it is necessary to clearly outline the consequences for sexual misconduct as a means of deterring it (Abner et al., 2011). Additionally, Addressing Sexual Offenses outlines other strategies which need
Conclusion Overall the automobile industry must make a more concerted effort o behave in ways that are consistent with accepted business ethics. From a utilitarian standpoint the automakers must begins to consider the consequences of their actions in the decision making process. At the current time Toyota is fighting to rebuild its brand image because the company6 did not thoroughly take into consideration the consequences of their actions. From a deontological
Ethics and Community Relations Ethical Issues in Corrections a) Identify and provide a brief explanation of the common restorative justice programs. Once completed, identify the one that has the best probability of success in your community (obviously this is more of an opinion-based question, but do your best to support it). There is considerable variability among existing programs due in part to varying interpretations of conflict and different perspectives on how such conflict
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now