Literature review
Extant literature has been dedicated to the topic of privatization of the rather publicly run correctional facilities in America. These literatures have been mixed and contain mixed views of proponent for privatization and its opponents alike. The literatures therefore have expressed favors of the system as well as critical of it. There also exists another category expressing pure criticism. The critical articles include the ones a large number of authors (Dixon et al.,1996; Puxty,1997; Broadbent et al.,1996; Shaoul,1997; English,2003; and Dillard and Ruchala,2005).The studies that are focused solely in the criticism of the system are also numerous (Cooper and Williams, 2005 and Andrew and Cahill, 2009). The initial group of literature has an argument having a multi-thronged perspective. In fact the perspectives of the prior literature can be grouped into three distinct perspectives: The initial perspective is concentrated on the fact that a great lack of accountability thrives in the various privately-managed prisons. This perspective holds a view that the inmates in such as system would be in a more worse off situation as compared to the ones held in publicly-run prisons. The second perspective is based on the theory that privatization is by principle derived neoliberalism, a philosophy which has become very persuasive in our contemporary society. This philosophy must be resisted t all costs in order for democracy to prevail. The third perspective attempt to explain the process of privatization in the form of a class warfare involving a sharp conflict between the interests of the public and that of the private world. The first and the second perspectives have been extensively been discussed while the third one has not been extensively discussed.
The initial perspective that postulates that there is a lack of accountability in the privately run prison systems and that the conditions of the inmates is most likely to worsen off a s compared to when they are in a public run system is still subject to further investigation via empirical and evidential analysis. In this perspective, the existing evidence has been mixed and thus making it apparent that indeed there exist a general lack of accountability in the privately managed correctional facilities. This fact has led to the termination of various contractual agreements between the government and the private operators as pointed out by VAGO (1999).
In regard to the second perspective, that is based on the argument that the process of privatization is a derivative of neoliberalism, a lot of criticism has been generated over an extended period of time in regard to the process of privatization of various governmental services and functions general (Puxty, 1997 and Andrew, 2009).The criticisms are all based on the single viewpoint that states that profit-making as well as the provision of various governmental services are extremely incompatible and therefore government ownership coupled with its management is regarded as the most effective and efficient method in the provision of all public services. Further, there is still a large piece of literature dedicated to the perspective that challenges the concept of privatization of government services with an argument that the government inspectors together with the auditors are never objective and that they employ extremely flawed evaluation methodologies as pointed out by (Andrew and Cahill, 2009)
Cost
Considering the rising cost of corrections to the government, high crime rate brought about by the big gap between the rich and the poor, and population explosion in prisons, one solutions that seems attractive in the eyes of the policy makers and which constantly beckons to them is the privatization of prisons and correction centers by the government. Those who advocate for privatization claim that the private enterprises can deliver the needed services and goods that were originally offered by the public corporations at a cheaper cost with speed and efficiency. They often cite successful sectors like health, motor vehicle industry, garbage collection and road maintenance as good examples (Carrol, Conant, and Easton, 1987 Robbins, 1995)
Even though most of adult correctional facilities begun in the mid -- 1980s, the use of privatization to correct and rehabilitate offenders is not new to America as early as 1820s, the first juvenile institution, was established in New York. It was private in its operation and funding. As a result of this first initiative which was successful, Many private and community based initiative sprung up as a result of Law Enforcement Assistance administration's grants during the 1970s (Durham, 1989; Rogers and Mays, 1987).
While these initial correctional facilities were operating, offering services such as medical care, educational...
Privatization of Prison Privatization Privatization of the prisons stands out as an objective by the government to change or extend its obligation in running prisons. Change in this operation calls for state policy changes where the government contracts private operators in elements relating to construction, design and security of prisons. In some states, some private companies undertake full ownership of the prisons inviting the government to evaluate the facility and offer to
Privatization of prisons has become an important consideration for the governments of all the developed countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. The one major reason for this consideration is that the prisons are becoming overcrowded and therefore their management by the state is becoming difficult. Moreover, the involvement of the private sector also has the potential to decrease the economic burden that the management and running of
Furthermore, even the goal of preventing recidivism (and crime rates in general) conflict with the profit motive of any industry whose demand is measured by the numbers of criminals convicted and sentenced to terms of incarceration. Conclusion: Prison privatization has increased in the last few decades in the U.S. Its proponents believe that privatizing prisons will reduce the financial strain on government authorities in connection with maintaining correctional services. Critics are
Prisons An analysis of the purposes for prisons in the U.S. justice system. The corrections system in America has historically fluctuated between being dedicated to incapacitation, rehabilitation, and to being punitive in nature. They can serve all three of these functions at the same time. Current trends in criminal justice remain focused on punitive justice that fosters prison environments lacking rehabilitative services, but recent scholarship and public policy have indicated a slight
Prison Industrial Complex as Another Form of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing US sentencing policies are still lean which has led to the federal government to incarcerate so many people. There are too many criminals committing too many crimes, and this explains why we have too many prisoners. Currently, the government's prison is holding 200,000-armed robbers, 150,000 sex offenders and 100 murderers (Davis, 2008). These people are enough to make fill a city.
Prisons For all intents and purposes the modern history of penology -- which is to say, the science and the theory of imprisonment and the state apparatus of the penitentiary -- begins with the late 18th century British philosopher Jeremy Bentham. In Bentham's day (corresponding roughly to the time of the American and French Revolutions) there was no idea of a penitentiary per se: there was instead His Majesty's Penal Colony
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