Introduction
The United States of America prison system is turning to become a costly experience. Each year, tax payers are losing up to $100 billion more. The chief contributor to this problem is the mass incarceration being experienced. This alone contributes up to $81 billion in expenses based on a research conducted by the Bureau of Justice and Statistics ( Wagner & Rabuy, 2017 ). The expenditure, nevertheless, does not account for the extra money spent by Americans supporting people close to them who have been incarcerated in addition to court fees and costs incurred from policing. It is also fundamental to note that a section of businesses such as those operated by bill bond companies are profiting a lot from the mass incarceration. This notwithstanding, little is being done to prevent incidences of recidivism in the prison system which has emerged as one of the main contributors of overcrowding.
Thesis
United States convicts are often subject to inhumane treatment within and outside the prison context, with aspects pertaining to privatization of the prison system acting as a hindrance to advancement.
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Background
In the eighteenth century, prisons were established within the United States having being set as detention camps for individuals. The advancement of early capitalism and the industrial revolution sparked economic growth leading the rate of crime to become prevalent. As a result, detaining individuals became a common norm and that is how the prison system was initiated. Also, during the same time, aspects such as the death penalty were established, however, it was easy for people to escape this since they could be sent to regions such as Australia to work as servants (Meskell, 1998 ). It is also important to note that prisons were among the first public buildings to be established within the U.S. Moreover, during the time, overcrowding was uncommon despite there being few buildings. This was due to the fact that those who were put in detention appeared to be recidivists awaiting trial, after which they were either killed or released.
Banishment was also a common phenomenon around the time prisons were created. It served as an alternative to the death sentence, and individuals were sent to American colonies where they were incarcerated in a state that was termed as being crueler than being put to death ( Meskell, 1998 ). The prisons within those colonies were fatal owing to the idea that people were neglected to die without being attended to. Reforms within the prison system began in 1777 after John Howard highlighted the plight of the system by criticizing the condition in which these workhouses were established ( Meskell, 1998 ). Besides, he further exposed the rot within prisons and came up with suggestions on how the conditions inside these prisons can be improved. At this point, the authorities deemed it fit to initiate reforms, most of which are still presently visible. In 1789, the state of Pennsylvania initiated the first modern penitentiary on Walnut Street as other states followed the same trend later afterwards ( Meskell, 1998 ). In 2018, the Bureau of Justice Statistics observed that up to 2.2 million Americans are locked up behind bars. This would imply that for every 100000 individuals, 655 of them have are in prison ( Meskell, 1998 ). It is a worrying trend that necessitates to be reversed.
Major Point 1
There is a massive U.S. prison system with a turnover of up to $74 billion (Brian, 2018). This is an exorbitant price judging from the fact that tax payers’ money is used to cater for the expenditure. With such high costs one cannot help but notice that other parties such as the GEO Group and Corporation of America are significant beneficiaries. In 2012, for instance, both entities managed to get more than $2.53 billion in terms of revenue generated from services rendered to correctional facilities (Brian, 2018). After the problem of overcrowding emerged, private entities such as the Corrections Corporation of America came up with a solution of privatizing the prison system and currently 10% of American prisons have been privatized, with the private entities making a turnover of more than $7.4 billion every year (Brian, 2018). Many, however, wonder whether there is any justification for such costs.
Prisons are a necessity within the U.S. economy, however, the cost associated with maintaining the many prisons being established are unreasonable. During the period 2008-2012, the number of incarcerated individuals rose by up to 700%, and since then the figures have been rising (Brian, 2018). This implies that each year, American tax payers will be forced to pay more in order to cater for the large influx of inmates. One has to delve deeper in order to understand why the costs of managing prisons has turned to become so high. For example, a majority of states have concurred with the idea that they cater for services such as hospital related costs of inmates outside the context of prisons. This alone amounts to $5.4 billion (Brian, 2018). This calls for a system which can balance such costs to stop them from exceeding the bare minimum.
After costs associated with prison`s open system have been considered, there is no justification on the amount being spent. In fact, it appears that privatized prisons save more compared to other facilities managed by the authorities. It is, nevertheless, fundamental to note that a number of states such as Florida, Texas, Kentucky and Mississippi have set a specific savings incentive for each prison established within the states which stands at 7%, 10%, 10%, 10% (Brian, 2018). This is set to stop prisons from spending extortionate amounts at the expense of tax payers.
Major Point 2
The prison system in America has ceased serving as a Department of Corrections and it is now more of a system that is contributing to the problem. Many of the prisoners end up being frustrated especially when they are wrongly incarcerated ( Ewing, Martinez & Rumbaut, 2015 ). Such individuals end up joining prisons where they come into contact with gangs who negatively influence them to become part of their illegal activities. Sale of drugs and contraband is common within the prisons, and such behaviors tend to encourage recidivism. Besides, individuals especially from the black race tend to take up illegal activities after their release having being frustrated by the system after being falsely accused.
It is, however, worthy to note that some behaviors such as engaging in counterproductive activities and learning, have succeeded in reforming most of the prisoners. Introducing amenities such as libraries has turned out to be an effective way of assisting the prisoners to have something constructive which they can spend their time on rather than engaging in illegal businesses. Other aspects such as behavioral therapy have proved to be effective in initiating positive behavior amongst the prisoners.
Prisons are also being monitored to ensure that there is no contributing to the problem by subjecting inmates to behavior and conditions that make them more violent upon being released back to society. Owing to a public outcry by Americans regarding the ensnarement of prisoners, more habitable conditions have been established. Besides, with the adoption of modern technology, amenities such as those pertaining to surveillance have been installed, in order to monitor all the activities occurring within the prison.
Major Point 3
Privatization of prisons has managed to infiltrate the system within the United States and there is a targeted demographic to extend the prison business. Most of these entities have realized that the prison business is very viable and profitable. This notwithstanding, some of the private Companies have been criticized for failing to fulfil their contractual obligation despite having been financed by the government ( Wilson, 2016 ). Regardless of privatization seeking to expand its demographics to other states, their presence in areas such as New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and Texas has resulted in major problems such as deaths, and riots rendering such privatization ineffective (Wilson, 2016) . Despite this being the case, the prison business is bound to continue.
In order for prisons to stay open, the United States government has been forced to spend a lot by privatized firms. For instance, $59.14 per prisoner is paid out by the government to private firms in order to cater for the expenditures in prison (Wilson, 2016) . CCA has, for example, explained that out of that amount, $41.61 is incurred as operating expenses. Moreover, the money is further broken down with $27.05 catering for salaries of employees and the rest being left to account for the needs of prisoners ( Wilson, 2016) .
There are no specific demographics that are being targeted for the United States prison system. Once can, nevertheless, note that part of the demographics target inmate statistics such as their age and citizenship, the juveniles in correctional facilities, number of prisoners within a specific year, veterans in the prisons, race, and also the increase in the elderly population within the prisons. It is, however, important for demographics to closely mirror on the race of incarcerated individuals, since it has been observed that a large number of those in prison are black people. This is an aspect that would indicate the existence of bias in the United States justice system. Besides, some of the black individuals in prison have been incarcerated over flimsy reasons.
Conclusion
United States convicts are often subject to inhumane treatment within and outside the prison context, with aspects pertaining to privatization of the prison system acting as a hindrance to advancement. Privatization of prisons has often been viewed as a solution to overcrowded prisons. Besides, the government has been content on delegating some of the activities regarding the management of prisons to the private Companies some of which have proved to be incompetent. Moreover, the idea that such firms view the prisons as profiting making incentives, would further make it impossible for them to concentrate on the critical aspect of reforming the prisoners. It is, therefore, a high time that the government made an inquiry into the prison system in a bid to initiate formidable reforms.
References
Brian, K. (2018). The Economics of the American Prison System. Retrieved from https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-economics-of-the-american-prison-system
Ewing, W. A., Martinez, D., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2015). The criminalization of immigration in the United States. Washington, DC: American Immigration Council Special Report .
Meskell, M. W. (1998). An American resolution: The history of prisons in the United States from 1777 to 1877. Stan. L. Rev. , 51 , 839.
Wagner, P., & Rabuy, B. (2017). Following the money of mass incarceration. Prison Policy Initiative .
Wilson, O. S. (2016). The Accountability of Private Prisons in America during the Era of Mass Incarceration.
