Privatized Prisons

A hot new topic in the field of crime and punishment is the issue of private prisons. Contrary to what many people believe, the government does not run all of the prisons in our country. Instead, private agencies are springing up and taking over the prison market. From 2002 to 2009, the amount of private prisons in the country increased by 37%. Many are not too sure about this new influx of private prisons, and they have began to advocate against them. Others believe they are a good, necessary implementation and that private prisons are here to stay.

Those who are for the private prisons have one main argument for them, and that is that it is much cheaper to run a private prison. Private agencies claim that they can run a prison much more efficiently than the government can as they have the ability to cut unnecessary expenses and hold to tighter budgets.

People who are against it claim that these private prisons are a bad thing. Some private prisons have cut certain rehabilitation programs in order to make more money. Another problem is that these private agencies are making money off of people's incarceration. Is it really moral to make money by locking people up? These agencies want more people in jail so they can increase their profits. It seems unfair to prey on those who make poor decisions in life, especially when the prison does not really rehabilitate its prisoners.