lit review

2

Running head: “FOR PROFIT” CORPORATIONS BE ALLOWED TO RUN U.S. PRISONS?

2

“FOR PROFIT” CORPORATIONS BE ALLOWED TO RUN U.S. PRISONS?

SHOULD PRIVATE “FOR PROFIT” CORPORATIONS BE ALLOWED TO RUN U.S. PRISONS?

A Review of the Literature

Author Note

SHOULD PRIVATE “FOR PROFIT” CORPORATIONS BE ALLOWED TO RUN U.S. PRISONS? A Literature review

While the private corporations have reportedly been playing an important role in the correctional sector, current researches suggest that permitting ‘for profit' corporations to run the U.S. prisons poses a great threat to human rights as far as the prison inmates are concerned. According to Ahmed (2019), the United States hosts more prisoners than the residents in big American cities like Phoenix. As of 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated the prison inmates to be at 2 million. 128,063 of them were in private correctional facilities, an increase of 47% from the year 2000.

The Justice Department is mostly concerned about the safety of private prisons and their inability to save funds.  The goal of this literature review is to find out whether indeed it is a good idea to allow 'For profit' corporations to run the prisons in the U.S.

The Trump Administration

Ever since the Trump's election, the spending on private prisons has doubled. In 2017, the GEO Group one of the largest private prisons received a $110 million contract to build a detention facility which benefits the Trump's inaugural committee and his family business. The Trump Administrations have had policies on immigration being increased. Consequentially, more immigrants have been detained in private prisons which translates to more profits for the facilities while at the same time putting the lives of these detainees in danger. In 2017, a total of 21 immigrants died while held up in private facilities. The Trump Administration has contributed to many of the immigrants be detained. “Funds meant for other agencies have been also channeled into the enforcement of immigration" (Ahmed, 2019).

Living conditions of prisoners

Reportedly, many of the private prisons are overcrowded with inmates. Despite of the huge funding these facilities get, prisoners are faced with safety and security threats that may lead to their death. There are several cases of inmates' death especially for the immigrants who are intersex. Their human rights are violated, and their health is at risk.

The hidden profits

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) currently supports the privatization of prisons. ALEC seeks to expand the privatization of prisons through the promotion of use of prisoners to provide labor, increase private prisons use of goods and services and increase the number of prisoners. ALEC has successfully "influenced public policies even without public participation” (Cooper et al., 2016); and helped pass laws that deal with criminalization. Joy (2018) claims that private prisons try to save as much and risk the health of the prisoners.

Privatization of prisons

Due to high number of incarcerations, the private corporations have held some of these prisoners. The prisoners are "exposed to sexual violence, poor sanitation, overcrowding, inmate-inmate and staff-inmate confrontations" (Gaes, 2019). These are just a few reasons why these residents through various organizations are calling out for the abolishment of private prisons in New York altogether. Simon (2019) indicates that the CoreCivic and GEO Group have so far been unable to secure a contract with New York since 2007. The privatization of the prisons will save minimal cash if not none.

Discussion

From the thorough literature review, it is evident that allowing the 'For profit' corporations to run the prisons in the U.S has more harm than good. With the increase in immigration policies, many more immigrants are faced with the risk of being detained. The research indicates that the prison inmates are at risk when it comes to "physical and sexual violence, health hazards and violation of their human rights" (Ahmed, 2019). It can be concluded from the various findings that 'for profit' corporations are in no place supposed to be running prisons in the U.S.

The major limitation in this literature review is the lack of evidence on the connection between privatization of prisons in the U.S and the mass incarceration. Although there has been an increase of detainees in the Trump Administration's era, their fate does not depend on the facilities they are detained in. It is recommended that thorough research be conducted to establish the various causes of mass incarceration in both private and public facilities.

Conclusion

As of today, 'For profit' corporations have been and are currently involved in the American Justice system. While research has pointed out the need to scrap out private prisons, it is uncertain if indeed it will be possible. The private prisons are more concerned by how they can pocket more profit and not the prisoner's welfare. “The human rights of the prisoners should be respected and protected" (Joy, 2018). Private prisons get profit by promoting prison labor and maintaining a certain number of prisoners being held at a given time. Eliminating private prisons will highly benefit the prisoners. However, more research is needed to come up with correct data when it comes to the conditions in the detention facilities, the number of prisoners and their link with privatization of prisons.

References

Ahmed, H. (2019). How Private Prisons Are Profiting Under the Trump Administration. Retrieved 25 September 2019, from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2019/08/30/473966/private-prisons-profiting-trump-administration/

Cooper, R., Heldman, C., Ackerman, A. R., & Farrar-Meyers, V. A. (2016). Hidden corporate profits in the US prison system: the unorthodox policymaking of the American Legislative Exchange Council. Contemporary Justice Review, 19(3), 380-400.

Gaes, G. G. (2019). Current status of prison privatization research on American prisons and jails. Criminology & Public Policy, 18(2), 269-293

Joy, T. (2018). The Problem with Private Prisons. Retrieved 25 September 2019, from http://www.justicepolicy.org/news/12006

Simon, M. (2019). New York Could Become First State To Be Completely Done With Private Prisons. Retrieved 11 October 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/morgansimon/2019/06/18/new-york-to-become-first-state-to-be-completely-done-with-private-prisons/.