Privatization of Prisons in the United States - Research Proposal Example

?Running Head: PRIVITIZATION OF PRISON PRIVITIZATION OF PRISON Inserts His/her Introduction Prisons have long been a part of human history and have represented a concept of punishment. Transgressors were kept in prisons in order to maintain the peace and semblance of the society. Prison system is a necessary for a developed society as it promotes the concept of right and wrong in the society. Deterrence is also an important aspect of prisons as they instill fear in the hearts and mind of the members of the society and forces them to abide by the rule of law. Prisoners in all developed society are abhorred by the society and this disgust creates an aversion. The aim of the prison system is to protect the semblance of the society and maintain social order. Historically prison system was used to detain criminals until further punishment was not administered. The prisons were actually dungeons where people were kept for their crimes. Criminals were not sentenced to spend time in jail rather they were either killed or set free and this practice dates back to the time of Old Testament (Griffith, 1993, pp. 91). Since then people were kept in dungeons (similar to present prisons) but the concept of criminal sentencing or jail time was not there. A person was either free or guilty, and a guilty person was punishable by death. The present day prison system came into existence in the middle part of 18th century. During this time criminals were imprisoned as a punishment for their crimes. Societies were actually developing and it was no longer considered right to give extreme punishments to every transgressor. Prison system developed in order to keep criminals away from the society and at the same time punishing them for their crimes. The role of Jeremy Bentham, a British philosopher, cannot be ignored in the development of present form of prison system (Jackson. 1997). From 18th century onwards the present day form of prison system came into existence and details were added in later years but the concept of criminal sentencing started from 18 the century. Since then prisons have been in hands of the state and government have operated prisons. It was politically essential for rulers to own and control the prison system so they can avert any revolt from the masses. But today the situation is very different as societies have evolved and they have come up with a refined justice system. There is no need for governments to control the prison system as a criminal justice system is in placed according to the constitution. Therefore it is argued that in today’s world prison system should be privatized. The development of economic system and introduction of concept of free markets has started a wave of privatization. Governments all over the world are considering opening their economies and promoting private enterprises in order to promote free markets. Similar demand is made with regards to the prison system. Prison systems are directly related to the social justice system of a society therefore privatization of this institution is not very easy. Arguments are made both for and against privatization of prison. This research proposal will deal with the privatization of prison and an attempt will be made to better understand how privatization will have positive or negative effect on the present day prison system. Literature Review Many local governments are thinking of privatization of prisons in order to decrease their work load. It is generally expected that private sector will perform in a more cost effective manner in order to earn profits. Overall efficiency of prison system is expected to increase if prison system is given in the hands of the private sector. But there are also concerns about privatization of prisons as it may lead to social problems. Therefore much research work has been conducted on the feasibility of private prisons. Literature on the subject also focuses on cost efficiency and performance of private prison system. Privatization of prisons reduces the role of government in the present system and is an efficient and pragmatic option for governments (Savas, 1987). Prison system in United States is mostly owned by government and it is a burden on the government. According to statistics seven percent of all prisons in United States of America are private prisons (Sabol et al. 2007). Governments have to provide resources to the prison system and also have to directly manage the operations. Management burden that is on the government is useless if an organization can perform the same duty by charging the government for its services. The reason for advocating privatization is that it offers an easier way for local and national governments. The success of privatization all over the world has raised voices in favor of privatization of prison system (Savas, 1987). With increasing social and political problems there is a lot for a government to administer therefore government should focus on its core functions. All the institutions that have little relation to the main functions of law making and implementation should be given in the hands of private parties in order to increase efficiency. This belief is at the bases for the demand of privatization of prison system. Research conducted on private prison system has revealed that private prisons can perform a better job than government controlled prisons in terms of quality of service (Lukemeyer & McCorkle 2006). Private prisons can operate efficiently because of the vigilance of the private organizations. Governmental institutions have a tendency to not control the leakages in funds. Resources are wasted because the aim is not to generate profit. Also there is a hope that more funding can be received if necessary. The mentality of the governmental institutions hinders employee involvement and decrease the motivation to provide services. Private prisons are therefore better able to operate as their goal is to generate more and more profits. Competitiveness increases when prison system is given into private hands as they will reduce costs as much as possible. Also employees can be better observed and their work can be administered in a proper manner. The hierarchy is usually long in the governmental institutions and there is a lack of communication almost at all times. All these things are not favorable for the inmates and the prison system overall. On the other hand private prisons can do better in this regards and they can provide good services at affordable prices by bridging the gap of communication through a flatter organizational hierarchy. Overcrowding of federal and state prisons is a big problem with the present prison system of United States of America. More and more prisoners are coming in prisons and facilities are not increasing at the same time. Costs are increasing with the number of inmates increasing in the prison system. It is estimated that it costs government around $22,000 a year to keep an inmate in prison (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2009). This cost is increasing because of overcrowding of prisons and many prisons are operating above their maximum capacity (Joel 1988). This situation gives rise to the increase in the trend of privatization of prison. Privatization of prison system is expected to decrease cost and at the same time solve the overcrowding problem of prisons. Overcrowding decrease the level of service quality of prison and inmates are left dissatisfied. Privatization can increase the number of facilities and can better manage the prison system. Overcrowding of prisons also is a problem because it defeats the whole purpose of prison system that is rehabilitation and if proper services are not given then inmates can return to their old illicit activities. Overcrowding therefore is a serious problem that can give way to an increase in crime rate all over the country. Private prisons are also found to be more flexible than government controlled prisons and can reduce the number of civil law suits against governments (Robbins 1987). Governmental institutions are more inclined to follow the same methods that they have been following for years and they are resistant to change. Prisons therefore resort to old practices and are not considered flexible. No innovation is welcomed and employees tend to follow their usual routine. There is no sense of urgency in government controlled prisons as profit generation is not the main focus. This may be a reason why private prisons are considered more flexible than government controlled prisons. Also bad quality of services and unhealthy prison conditions attract civil law suits. This costs local and state bodies extra money in settlement. Prisoners usually complain about their bad situation and any unfortunate incident in the prison can cost government money in civil law suits. This will surely not happen in private prisons as their aim will be to decrease costs. Cost effectiveness has been identified as a major benefit of private prisons. Civil suits will be a threat for privately operating prisons as it will increase their costs and will also affect their reputation. In this regard operating a prison like a corporation can be beneficial for the prison system, inmates and the society. Prisons are usually characterized by violence as inmates are known to operate in gangs. Incidents of violence are a normal site in state and local government prisons. Inmates usually resort to violent activities because they have nothing to do in prisons. Lack of interesting activities in prison can force prison inmates to indulge themselves in violent activities. Quality of services is also a factor that can contribute to violence in prisons. Prisoners are known to attacks guards. There is a usual rift between guards and prison inmates, and bad relations between them can deteriorate the peace of the prison. Private prisons are known to have lower rate of violent attacks than government prisons (Lukemeyer & McCorkle 2006). These attacks include both attacks on inmates and guards. Private prisons are known to provide better facilities and high quality of services than government prisons and this causes prison inmates to remain calm and satisfied. Government controlled prisons also have management problems. Employees are sometime given more power than they should actually be given. This makes them unnecessarily strict against prison inmates. This can also be a reason why government prisons have a bad record when it comes to violence in prisons. Private prison system will include a check and balances system that may help reduce violence in prisons. Privatization of prison system is not considered the best approach by all and there are many problems identified related to the privatization of prison system of the country. The obvious problem with privatization of prisons is that there is a conflict of interest between the private ownership of prisons and public good (Shichor 1995). Private owners of prison will want that their profits increases and this will happen when more and more criminals will come to prisons. On the other hand the good of the society is in the decrease of criminal activities in the society. This is how there is a serious conflict of interest between privatization of prisons and public benefit. Proper mechanism of check and balances is required to tackle this conflict of interest but it will be difficult. Private prisons focus on good quality of services but they may ignore the rehabilitation side of their obligation and by doing this they may ensure future income. This is a serious concern regarding privatization of prison. Private prisons cannot easily answer this question raised by the proponents of government controlled prison system. Also all studies have not clearly shown that private prisons are better than public prisons (Shichor 1995). In the absence of substantial empirical evidence in favor of private prisons it may be argued that the privatization of prison system will not solve anything. Private prisons provide better quality of services but they only deal with the symptoms of the problems and not the core problem itself (Shichor 1995). The core problem is to eradicate criminal behavior of inmates and motivate them to become good citizens of the society. Private prisons lag behind in this area. In another study the cost effectiveness of the private prisons was seriously questioned. The study showed that private prisons only tend to save 1 percent overall cost on average as compared to government controlled prisons (Austin & Coventry 2001). This evidence shows that the normal assumption that private prisons will reduce costs significantly is not true at all. More over private prison can also increase the incarceration rate thereby having a negative effect on the overall society. Literature on privatization of prisons does not clearly support one side of the debate. There are some advantages of private prisons but there are also some serious concerns regarding them. The conflict of interest that is coherent in private prisons is a serious problem. But they offer many advantages including lower costs, improve quality of services, and lower violence in prisons. But private prisons may not play a role in the rehabilitation of inmates that is the main aim of prison system. Research Questions The aim of the study is to perform a comparative analysis between public and private prisons. The study will consider both the employee’s and inmate’s attitude in both types of prisons. By taking both sides into consideration an attempt will be made to offer advice as to which prison system is better for the society. Q.no1 What is the satisfaction level of inmates with regards to the services given to them in prisons? Q: no 2 Are the employees satisfied with the salaries they get in return for their work? Q: no 3 Do employees feel motivated to work for the prison? Q: no Is there any correlation between satisfaction of employees and satisfaction of prison inmates? Research Design This study regarding privatization of prison system is aimed at finding whether private prisons have some real advantage over public prisons or not. The existing literature on the subject has failed to answer the debate between private and public prisons. This research will aim to shed to more light on the subject. Sample The sample of the study will include prison inmates and employees of both private and public prisons. 5 prisons that are in private control and 5 prisons that are controlled by government will be included in the study. Employees and inmates will be the main source of data collection. Inmates will inform us about the type of services they are given. The aim is to identify the level of satisfaction that is enjoyed by the inmates in both the private and public prisons. Inmates are the main consumers of the services provided by a prison and without taking their opinion no objective conclusion can be made. Employees who work at both private and public prisons are also an important part of the study. We will try to test whether there is a significant difference between attitudes of employees working in private and public prisons or not. Motivational level of employees can also play a significant role in improving the services of the prison and reducing the violence in prisons. Public employees are also known to be resistant to change and this reduces their performance. The aim is to see whether work performance of employees will increase under a private management or not. This why employees are very important and collecting data from them is important. Research Methodology The aim of the study as told above is to find possible differences between employees and inmates of private and public prisons. It is a comparative study between private prisons and government controlled prisons. The only way in which value can be added to the previous literature present on the subject is by collecting primary first hand data. Previous studies on the subject give old insights on the subject therefore it is important that new data should be collected. Private prisons also undergo rapid changes therefore it is important to collect primary data that is recent. The nature of the study will be quantitative in nature and data collecting instruments will be designed accordingly. Quantitative research is a good option here because it is a decision oriented research. It will help people choose between public and private prisons therefore the results should be as objective as possible. Quantitative research relies on numeric data and therefore it is more objective than other researches. The study also involves asking many yes or no questions. For example in order to find that whether inmates are satisfied with the attitudes of employees a simple 5 point Likert scale is appropriate. There is no need of in dept interview or using other techniques. Quantitative research also is feasible because it is easier to analyze the results. It is also cost effective to perform quantitative analysis. Quantitative method of research also allows us expand the number of participants and that can make the result more close to the real situation. If we were to conduct interviews then only a handful of participants could have participated in the study. This is why the use of quantitative research is more appropriate. Qualitative research was not a good option for this type of research as it would have made the study inconclusive and opinion based. It is very hard to pick relevant information in qualitative research and experts are required. Also the scope of the study is such that it requires more participants. For all these reasons quantitative research was not a good option for this research. Method of Data Collection The main instrument that will be used to collect data in this study is questionnaire. It is a quantitative study therefore questionnaires can prove helpful. Self administered questionnaire can be distributed among employees and inmates of private and public prisons. The method can also ensure confidentiality. The study is aiming to collect data from employees in private and public prison. Employees usually fear that the information they give can land in the hands of their employers therefore they tend to fabricate the truth in studies. Interview method identifies the employees therefore they tend to hide the truth more in interviews. Through questionnaires identity of employees can be kept under secrecy and in this way object data can be collected in the study. Questionnaires can also cater to a wide range of participants. Questionnaires will be printed in different languages in order to cater to inmates of different origins. Employees are expected to understand English but inmates may not be literate. For them questionnaires will be printed in different languages. Questionnaires also offer an important benefit. They allow the researcher to collect relevant information easily. Other methods also collect information that is not relevant to the study therefore questionnaires offer a way to reduce collection of unwanted information. Questionnaires are also helpful when it comes to data analysis. Through questionnaires we can collect information and interpret is easily. We will just have to count the number of employees who were satisfied with the services of the prison. Also we will count the employees who are satisfied with the amount of pay they get for their work and in this way analysis of data will become a lot easier through questionnaire. Data Analysis For data analysis we will be using software like SPSS and excel. These software offer tools that can help project data in a diagrammatic form that is easy to study. At first data will be coded in these software and then different results be interpreted. Through SPSS we can easily find the reliability of the sample and the data that is collected. Also different correlations that can run that can provide better understanding of the data. We can find the correlation between employee satisfaction and employee salaries. Also employee satisfaction can be measured against satisfaction of inmates. Data analysis will be relatively easy in this study because information will be in front of us and we will not have extract information from something like an interview. Paper questionnaires will be in front of us and that will allow us to analyze and interpret the data in a more effective manner. Limitations The main limitation of the study is that it only takes into account a few private and public prisons in a limited geographical area. Then results found will be limited and will not be representative of a country wide prison system. The employees and inmates will both belong to the same region therefore cultural diversification will also be not taken into account. The study only takes information from five private and public prisons. These five prisons are randomly selected therefore no geographical diversifications possible. The study will also not take into account economic factors like state contribution in the prison system, the budget of prisons and recent financial crisis. All these factors can have a great impact on the performance of a prison and can also have an impact on the inmate attitude. The cultural difference between inmates is an important element that plays a role in the prison violence. Prisoners often take inmates of other regions with an eye of hostility therefore prison violence is influenced by cultural orientation of an inmate. All these things are not accounted for in the research and these are the major drawbacks of the study. Conclusion Prison system is an important part of any developed society and is representative of the values of a society. Prison systems play a major role in the society as they offer deterrence to the ordinary people and instill fear of punishment in the hearts of the people. Deterrence is an important concept because it keeps people away from treading on the illicit path of crimes. Prison system therefore plays an important role in the value system of a society. Privatization has a major role in national economies today and prisons are also been given to private authorities. There is a hot debate going on regarding the viability of government operated prisons. Private prisons can reduce the role of government in prison system and allow governments to focus on other core responsibilities. Private prisons can also provide necessary facilities to prison inmates and thereby increase the quality of services in the prisons. Privatization can also help make operations of prisons cost effective and thereby can help governments save money. Privatization of prisons is also criticized by many as a there is a conflict of interest between private owners of prisons and pubic good in general. Also evidence is lacking that can surely say that private prisons are better than public prisons. Private prisons may not play the role of rehabilitation just to increase their profits. This research will give some insights that will help decide whether private prisons are in the best interest of the society or public prisons. The aim is to identify the satisfaction level of employees and that of inmates in both private and public prisons. This will help us better understand the benefits and problems of private and public prisons. References Austin & Garry. (2001). Emerging Issues on Privatized Prisons. National Council on Crime and Delinquency United States: 95 Expenditures/ Employment. (2011). Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=16 Griffith, Lee. (1993). The fall of the prison: biblical perspectives on prison abolition. London: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Jackson, N. (1997). Incarcerated: The History of the Penitentiary from 1776-Present. History and Thought of Western Man, Rich East High School. Retrieved from http://www.richeast.org/htwm/jails/Jails.html Joel, Dana. (1988). A Guide to Prison Privatization. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1988/05/bg650-a-guide-to-prison-privatization#1 Lukemeyer & McCorkle. (2006). Privatization of Prisons: Impact on Prison Conditions. The American Review of Public Administration, 36(2): 189-206 Sabol, W.B., T.D. Minton, & P.M. Harrison. (2007). Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2006. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice Savas, E, S. (1987). Privatization and Prisons. Vanderbilt Law Review, 40: 889. Shichor, D. (1995). Punishment for Profit: Private Prisons/Public Concerns. National Crime Justice Reference Service: 311 Read More