Privatization of Prison

[Name of the institute]Privatization of Prison

Introduction

Those who commit a serious and severe nature of a criminal offense have to suffer from punishment for the lifetime while others only spend some part of life in prison. Those who spend their lifetime in prison suffer from misery and severe punishment. Whereas those who spend few years in the prison not only suffer when they remain in prison but also face difficulties when they get out of the prison and make an attempt to adjust their lives according to the rules and regulations of the society. Putting criminals in prison does not mean that we should begin to treat then in an inhumane way. This brings in limelight an issue that is in vogue these days that is the issue of privatization of prisons. The purpose of this paper is to present arguments in support of the privatization of prison.

Discussion

The phenomenon of private prison in the United States started in early 80s when Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) facilities in Texas and California had too many people to handle in their facilities. The inmates were then sent to institutions run by Behavioral Systems Southwest (BSS), a for-profit firm and the trend started. By the late 80s there were a number of private correctional facilities. “Today there are approximately 102 private facilities, holding more than 100,000 prisoners across the US with 43 in Texas, 24 in California, 10 in Florida, and 9 in Colorado” (Campbell, Coyle & Neufeld, 2003). Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is one of the oldest and largest players in the prison industry. People who were behind the project of Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food chain established CCA. CCA has control over about half of all the beds in private prisons operating in the United States. Almost quarters of beds are under the control of another leading name in the prison industry that is Wackenhut Corrections, a subsidiary of the well-established Wackenhut private security service. These are the two major players in the industry. Apart from these, there are about more than a dozen established for-profit private prison firms operating in US.

A number of private prisons are in the southern and western United States. Prisons are small towns unto themselves that carry not just the prisoners of the state they are working in but at times prisoners from other states are also brought in such prisons. Life in a correctional setting is one based upon life in what Goffman (1961) described as a total institution. A total institution is an isolated, enclosed system such as a prison, mental hospital, or training camp whose primary purpose is to control most aspects of the life of some, if not all, of its participants. How total institutions maintain their hold on individuals' lives, the consequences they produce for individuals and social systems, and how people adapt to the limitations imposed by their circumstances is of great interest to researchers. The prison environment is no exception. As a result privatization of prison should be ...