Research Paper on:
Prison Privatization

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
companies trying to get business from, or take over, government run institutions. There is talk about privatization in schools, mostly in the form of vouchers, because it is suggested that  schools are failing and the private sector is winning. Why not merge the two? Similar ideas have come along regarding the nations prisons. Is privatization the solution to the expense  of building and running prisons? Might it be a solution to overcrowding? While some say privatization is the answer, there are those who do not agree. Shichor (cited in Blakely,  1996) challenges the concept of delegating the responsibility of punishment to a private institution, because that responsibility has traditionally belonged to the government. For instance, it is asked whether or  not a private corporation should be allowed to inflict punishment when the state is the victim (Blakely, 1996). Should government be solely responsible for this (1996)? These questions are even  more difficult to answer when Shichor ponders whether true motivation of such entities is capital gain or the good of society (1996). In other words, when turning prison control over  to the private sector, the public domains influence is reduced. Although the punishment is indirectly inflicted by the state, it is essentially run by private enterprise and is not in  direct control of the government. In many domains, private companies have taken advantage of government and overbilled and not provided appropriate services. It is likely that private companies will do  this in the prison system as well. Finally, according to Shichor, privately operated prisons have not shown overwhelming advantages which would outweigh the concerns and problems that they create  (1996). While it is true that privatization has drawbacks, it is also true that there has been overcrowding in public prisons and the need for new facilities. In fact,