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NCJ Number:	113798

Title:	Prisons for Profit: Should Corrections Make a Buck?

Journal:	Corrections Today Volume:50 Issue:6 Dated:(October 1988) Pages:104-107

Author(s):	M J Mahoney

Date Published:	1988

Annotation:	The John Howard Association (JHA), a prison reform group that works for improved correctional policies and practices, has published a policy statement opposed to privatization of prisons.

Abstract:	JHA supports using private industry as a source of discrete services such as food services and medical care and supports private-sector involvement in prison industries, but opposes total correctional facilities management and financing of prison construction by the private sector. Prisons-for-profit involve constitutional issues and an inappropriate allocation of control over citizen's lives. Private financing sidesteps public input into corrections policy and may discourage the use of alternatives to incarceration. In addition, privately run prisons are not necessarily more economical, efficiently run, or innovative than Government-run facilities. Private financing and total management may reduce accountability to both the Government and the public. Lower staff costs may result in lower wages and inadequate training; due process rights of inmates may be violated or compromised. Ultimately, correctional institutions are the Government's responsibility: Long-term Government planning is beyond the control of the private sector. Incarceration is one of the State's most intrusive forms of control, thus it is inappropriate to relinquish Government authority to an organization operating with profit as its primary goal.

Main Term(s):	Privatization in corrections

Index Term(s):	Contract corrections services; Corrections management

Page Count:	4

Format:	Article

Type:	Legislation/Policy Analysis

Language:	English

Country:	United States of America



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