Privatization Vs Incarceration

The increased use of for-profit privatized prisons in the United States has created a system of mass incarceration due to compromised motivation for these institutions to maximize profits. Over the last four and a half decades, the United States has experienced a surge in the incarceration rates. In 2013, 1,598,780 people occupied state or federal prisons compared to 196,429 in 1970 (“Incarceration Generation” 1). This rise in prison population may be a result of harsher penalties and legislation on non-violent crimes. For instance, President Nixon officially declared the “War on Drugs” in 1973 and endorsed this through the creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (“Incarceration Generation” 1). The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, passed
These examples highlight the tough on crime rhetoric that has captured the U.S. over the past several decades, which has led to a demand for more beds for inmates. Private prisons have attempted to meet this demand through contracts with states to hold convicts. A private prison, according to Paul Ashton and Amanda Petteruit is, “a facility managed by a for-profit organization through a public-private partnership with a government contract,” (5). They explain these contracts allow private institutions to take over the operations of state-run prisons or their own private buildings. The private prisons charge a daily rate per inmate to run the facility and to turn a profit (Ashton and Petteruit 5). Therefore, private prisons have the incentive to maximize the number of prisoners and the amount of time each inmate will occupy prison beds because the state pays them for their services on a daily basis, (Christine Link et al.
“In particular, private prison companies have had either influence over or helped to draft model legislation such as, “three strikes’ and, truth-in-sentencing laws, both of which have driven up incarceration rates and ultimately created more opportunities for private prison companies to bid on contracts to increase revenue,” (Ashton and Petteruti 4). This disproportionately affects people who are non-white, poorly educated and of low socioeconomic status (Golembeski and Fullilove 1705). Greatly affected by the prison system are poor urban areas. There is an overrepresentation of the African-American population in our prison system. For example, 50 percent of the imprisoned population is African-American, however, African-Americans account for 12 percent of the U.S. population (Golembeski and Fullilove 1705). A significant part of our society is disenfranchised to live in a vicious cycle without proper support from our government and justice system (Victor Rios