Introduction
Private prisons are not a new phenomenon. The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed a proliferation in contract and lease agreements between prison authorities and private business people, founded on soliciting for inmate labor or transportation services. Private prisons refer to for-profit facilities run by third parties contracted by the government. According to Beyens and Snacken (1996), the return to a more centralized public prison system was informed by increased public awareness of abuses in private prison settings and objections by labor unions, which expressed concerns about many jobs going to prison workers. In addition, calls for better standards and adoption of rehabilitation as the goal of correctional facilities drove the impetus for change. Today, history is repeating itself because privatization of prisons is a concept being embraced worldwide. A recent Sentencing Project report by Mason (2013) established that mass privatization of prisons, a phenomenon initially prevalent in the US, now has a global presence. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Brazil are handing over the responsibility of their prisoners to private entrepreneurs. Mason (2013) observed that the trend continues unabated despite reports showing that private prisons do not perform better than publicly operated ones, do not reduce costs, and act as an incentive for the rising populations in detention and correctional facilities. The handing over of the entire management of prisoners to the private sector elicits significant controversy. However, the widespread and acceptance of contracting of services for prisoners to the private sector (Beyens & Snacken, 1996), implies privatization is an entrenched concept in today’s correctional facilities. Therefore, it is imperative to explore trends influencing growth of private prisons, their implications on criminal justice system, and future possibilities for the corrections departments.
Current/Developing Trends in International Corrections
Globalization
Globalization is the leading trends driving privatizations of prisons. A significant proportion of industries have fallen prey to globalization and prisons are not immune. Globalization, despite being a fairly new phenomenon, has developed into an ingrained concept (Steger, 2017). It refers to the international fusion resulting from sharing of worldviews, commodities, ideas, and culture. Globalization is aided by the fact that the world is a platform defined by connotation of socially interwoven political, economic, cultural, and environmental interconnections and trends. Therefore, globalization encourages interdependence and integration of the global society. Simply put, nations will soon and possibly do, rely on one another to function. The role of globalization on privatization of prisons is founded on its ability to influence implementation and multiplication of new and existing social practices that transcend political, economic, social, cultural, and geographical boundaries. Mason (2013) contended that privatization of prisons exists in different forms in at least a dozen countries worldwide. The impact of globalization is evident from the observation that despite privatization being a diverse concept, countries that have adopted it are those that are predominantly English speaking.
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Growth in Prison Populations
Prisons experienced significant growth in populations since the 1980s (Beyens & Snacken, 1996). Select countries across the world presented as case studies for prison privatization by Mason (2013), appear to target certain population segments in these programs. The trend corroborates the assertion that prison privatization is an outcome of the need by governments to expand capacity to address the problems of overcrowding and deteriorating conditions. Capacity-oriented and institution-based factors were determined to have immense influence on the proliferation of private prisons worldwide (Kim & Price, 2014). The private sector offered an affordable alternative for addressing these challenges. It is important to point out that countries cited by Mason (2013) as having adopted prison privatization have the highest populations of inmate globally. The trend is an outcome of decades of implementation of tough-on-crime policies that have ensnared many people leading to imprisonment of tens of millions worldwide. The observation corroborates the association between the rising population of inmates and proliferation of private prisons worldwide.
Operation Costs and Economic Dynamics
The rising population of prisoners place governments under immense pressure to cut costs and save taxes as mechanisms of plugging budget deficits. For governments, the private sector is the preferred option for cutting costs where prison reform is concerned. On the contrary, Fulcher (2011) and Thompson (2012) contend that prison privatization is a consequence of the prison industrial complex, which they refer to as a profiteering system put in place to serve economic interest of the government correctional institutions, private corporations, and politicians. Fulcher (2011) links the growth of the prison industrial complex to the rise in prison population, further demonstrating the interdependence between the factors fueling prison privatization. According to Fulcher (2011), the privatization processes have strong associations to use of prisoners’ labor for profit and constitutional misinterpretations. The observation lends credibility to Mason (2010) argument that the school of thought that private prions reduce costs of operations saving the government revenue is at best circumstantial. The rise in prison population led to allocation of government resources to the private sector, fueling the development of the prison industrial complex as profit venture in the process. Thompson (2012) argued that the prison industrial complex was intended to fill an economic void in the shrinking economy. The trend is likely to continue into the near future because of filing policy and legal frameworks to address the causes.
Immigrant Detention
Mason (2013) noted a rather pervasive trend in that is a consequence of prison privatization. In the US, the UK, and Australia, private prison companies are dedicated to detention of immigrants rather than the management of prison problems. In some countries such as Australia, the detention of immigrants is a preserve of for-profit companies. Criminalization of immigration has contributed to the sustainability of private prisons (Ackerman & Furman, 2013). The criminalization of immigration and privatizations of prisons have jointly affected criminal justice systems in many countries. Privatization of prisons is a powerful motivation for social construction of undocumented immigrants as a possible source of revenue. The private sector is projected to benefit immensely rom immigrant detention, a trend that will continue with the current volatile immigration problems worldwide.
Quality Issues and Abuse of Human Rights
There are concerns that private contractors are unlikely to be held to the same degree of scrutiny as public operators. For this reason, the private sector has been at the center of criticism for lack of accountability. Private prisons have little incentives to report incidents of abuse given that majority, which are funded by the government, do so on bonus and benefit basis. Incidents of riots and deaths can dramatically reduce the bonuses. Penalties can also be imposed for erroneous discharges, drug use, and assaults among others. Therefore, private prisons tend to cover up incidents of abuse to solicit favors with the government. Such lack of transparency drives criticism of private prisons in relation to substandard conditions, abuse of prisoners’ rights, and lack of concern for staff (Mason, 2013).
Implications of Trends on Criminal Justice
As countries continue to share worldviews and culture leading to institutionalization of private prisons, the implications on the global criminal justice systems are also likely to grow. The persistent concern that has been expressed by some critics is the tendency of the program to yield more incarceration policies. According to Thompson (2012), such polices are directly linked to the increase in prison populations, a development critical to ensuring that prison privatization is a viable business. The criminalization of immigration and the rise in immigrant detention centers, a development that is likely to subject more people to incarceration. The practices would potentially lead to commercialization of the sector, with profitability becoming the key driver. The implication for the criminal justice system is that more people are likely to be convicted and handed sentences whose time is disproportionate to the crime committed. In short, the global criminal justice systems would become biased because they are motivated by the need to fill up private prisons to maintain their economic viability.
Future Perspective of Corrections
The future of prisons privatizations lies in the balance between the proponent and opposing forces. Mason (2013) contended that the number of private prisons would rise, but not in the rate experienced before. The cost of operating such enterprises are becoming unsustainable, a development that would lead to decrease in the number of private operators. Consolidation of firms in the industry is a possibility for future operators. The persistence of incidents that are covered up is also a major concern for litigation, which would place private prisons under public scrutiny, immensely impairing their profit driven operations. However, private prisons continue to be perceived as a solution to overcrowding and cost reduction. In addition, the potential for integration of rehabilitative programs is immense. This means that prison privatization is a phenomenon that would become integrated into the corrections industry, which calls for appropriate measures for addressing its detriments to the criminal justice system.
Conclusion
Prison privatization is a concept that has taken root in the modern globalized world. Initially intended to solve the problem of overcrowding and the need for budget cuts by the governments, private prisons have evolved into an industrial complex driven by profitability. Private prisons need occupants to remain operational and sustain profitability. As a result, they have the potential to influence the criminal justice system to serve their interests. The tough-crime policies and criminalization of undocumented immigration are example of the effects of private prisons on the global criminal justice systems. However, it is important to recognize that private prisons are a mainstay in today’s world. Therefore, stakeholders must collaborate to ensure its benefits are multiplies and detriments eliminated. The association of private prisons with the industrial complex must be countered by encouraging transparency and accountability.
References
Ackerman, A. R., & Furman, R. (2013). The criminalization of immigration and the privatization of the immigration detention: implications for justice. Contemporary Justice Review , 16 (2), 251-263.
Beyens, K., & Snacken, S. (1996). Prison privatization: an international perspective. In Prisons 2000 (pp. 240-265). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Fulcher, P. A. (2011). Hustle and flow: Prison privatization fueling the prison industrial complex. Washburn LJ , 51 , 589.
Kim, Y., & Price, B. E. (2014). Revisiting prison privatization: An examination of the magnitude of prison privatization. Administration & Society , 46 (3), 255-275.
Mason, C. (2013). International growth trends in prison privatization . Sentencing Project.
Steger, M. B. (2017). Globalization: A very short introduction (Vol. 86). Oxford University Press.
Thompson, H. A. (2012, October). The prison industrial complex: A growth industry in a shrinking economy. In New Labor Forum (Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 39-47). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
