An Assessment of the Risks and Benefits of Prison Privatization, Essay Example

There are several advantages and disadvantages related to the privatization of correctional services. The main benefits of privatization are the lower costs necessary to run these institutions in terms of government funding and more efficient operations and administration (Rizzo & Hayes, 2012). Risks related to this systems are the lack of control that the government will be able to have over these organizations in addition to incidence of reduced rights of the average American prisoner. It is important for the government to understand the advantages and disadvantages and disadvantages of this situation before further allowing the privatization of prisons. Although such services appear to save the government money at first, high social costs are experienced as a result. Overall, restricting freedoms of prisoners and cutting corners to support their livelihood while in prison is a violation of their human rights. Allowing this treatment to continue will result in costly legal fees for the government over time, as more human rights cases are brought to the courts.

Legislation has been put in place in California to actively reduce the number of individuals that are being held in state prisons. However, this is problematic because instead of having state prisons suffering from overcrowding, this issue has transferred to local county prisons. This impacts the services of probation in community corrections because there are few officers to work with a large population. As a result, the quality of services they are able to provide has diminished significantly.

Senate Bill 678 provided for behavior modification. The plan itself outlined “information about and incentivized counties to adopt risk assessments, supervision and evaluation strategies, and rehabilitation treatments proven to reduce recidivism” (Warren, 2010). Funding for these programs were also provided under these requirements. This is necessary because studies have shown that rehabilitation practices are superior to imprisonment practices. Provided funding for such behavior modifications will allow law enforcement agencies to more actively contribute to ridding their California counties of crime and more readily manage the large prisoner population they have received.

The two major factors of the bill that were favorable to its passage in the California legislature is that it provided for an alternative to incarceration in response to the prevalent prison overcrowding. In addition, local representatives were aware that the funds it would provide were necessary to support the large population of prisoners they were handed by the state. Since no alternative plans were presented to resolve this problem, it was favorable for members of the legislature, who act as representatives of their state, to act in favor of the plan in order to preserve funds on the behalf of the taxpayers that live within their district.

Incentivizing faster trials and keeping individuals out of prison is financially beneficial. Thus, efforts around the country should focus on eliminating the large populations that are in prisons and instead focus on returning them to society. This will effectively counteract prison overcrowding and positively contribute to the development of a safe environment for civilians living in the United States. While the impacts of the state prison reduction experiment were not anticipated to impact the local prisons, rehabilitation is a reasonable solution to the problem. It is important for law enforcement officials to continue promoting these practices in a manner that defends the interests of all Americans, including those subject to prison sentences.

References

Rizzo, E., Hayes, M. (2012). An Assessment of the Risks and Benefits of Prison Privatization. Retrieved from http://www.anselm.edu/Documents/Academics/Departments/Criminal%20Justice/DOC%20Privatization%20Final%20Report.pdf

Warren, R. K (2010). Probation reform in California: Senate Bill 678. Federal Sentencing Reporter, 22(3), 186-193.

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