Privatization of Prisons
By posham
@posham (1236)
Philippines
March 16, 2008 12:36pm CST
Have you heard of proposals of privatizing prisons? handing responsibility from governments to private groups in order to lessen expenses for governments so that they can channel those resources to other necessity like education, healthcare, etc. what do you know about this issue and what i your stance?
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1 response
@bluewings (3857)
•
16 Mar 08
I am reading about such a proposal for the first time.While I can't comment on it's implications on any specific country or society other than my own, I have an opinion in more general terms.( I don't think this has ever been tried anywhere before though).As I understand, the proposal entails only running the prison by private groups with it's main aim to channel the funds towards the betterment of the masses and not exactly directed towards changing anything for the prisoners , but the way I look at it, if handled wisely , it can even improve the life of the prisoners and in the process can give us a better society.
A person with a history of conviction , when sent back into the society , finds it hard to get a respectable job and hence, in many cases, to sustain his livelihood.In such situations , he might feel pressured to go against the law again.This proposal could change some of that.Criminals are sentenced to serve terms not only as a reprimand for failing to uphold the laws under which they live ,but also because the society is considered safer without them. However, merely imprisonment often doesn't change them.If you want them to be law abiding then it's the government's responsibility to bring in the reforms necessary for that. If the private group(s) is one that can facilitate their education , education that can be commercialized and benefited from in the long run , then the prisoners and the society they go back into , might be better of after their terms are over.For example the private organization can teach handicrafts that is marketable and sell them offline or online and use that revenue to strengthen the structure.While some might complain that it's a crazy idea to make their lives easy because they are there as a punishment for their actions and they ought to suffer , it's debatable whether staying in the confines of the prison , separated from the rest of the world and their families isn't punishment enough and in some cases it perhaps isn't.
As for the resources that are presently being used to run prisons , they could be channelized towards education and health care of the tax paying and voting public once the private groups break even because realistically I can't see how private establishments ,including non-governmental organizations will get involved with prisoners that too at a monetary loss to their organization.If indeed such a process is put into place then obviously the police will still have to either train or share the burden of administrating the prisons at least during the initial phase of the transition....Inhale
@posham (1236)
• Philippines
17 Mar 08
yes, that's actually the purpose of privatizing prisons.. for them to be productive even while serving their sentence. and for the resources that was used for them can now be channeled to more useful things.. the government spends a fortune running facilities such as prisons and corrections, now, they can opt to just support private entities with policemen and legal matters.. most of the time, a person commits a crime due to poverty, now, while serving in a correction facility, he will also be productive to the society hence lessening the burden on the state.. that is the main issue after all.. we imprison them not just for punishment but for correction, in the hope that someday, they will be good natured citizens.. now, we all know that most of them have families as well.. giving thm opportunities to support their families while inside the facility will be a great help as well.. it will lessen the chances fo their family members to grow desperate and commit crimes as well.. and when they do get out of prison, they will carry with them skills that may be able to help them to struggle through life.. this to me is two birds with one stone - no need for half way houses, right?
1 person likes this
@bluewings (3857)
•
17 Mar 08
Right.If we look at it superficially, it may not seem like investing into a community's future , but it could potentially give back to the society because in doing this we'd actually be alleviating crime by addressing an important cause leading to it.There are some heinous crimes and criminals who perhaps need to be kept out of this , but largely , this should give the prisoners a chance to transform their lives and the government a way to optimize their resources for better use.
@posham (1236)
• Philippines
26 Mar 08
plus, in developed countries, jails may seem like an escape for those whose starving on the street.. you have your recreational activities and relatively neat cells.. but in developing or third world countries where the government can't even provide for the homeless.. and with overcrowded jails... prisoners were standing in their cells bound together like sardines living on scarce food - with a good percentage of them that are not even convicted yet...
this is the scene that i witnessed when i volunteered as a paralegal in our jail system.. now, if private entities will enter the picture and maybe take over partially, they can use the stagnant population there as a workforce and in turn, the income generated from simple projects like handicraft, etc can be used to run the facility.
i know the government is responsible to handle things like this, but honestly, i'd rather see the gov't working on education, healthcare, and the economy.. and clean up their system as well (hmm, that means more will end up in jail if we did lifestyle checks on politicians.. harharhar)
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