by Michael Tabbs

Created on: April 03, 2008

Private for-profit prisons are long overdue and would allow prisoners to actually repay their debt to society. A private prison could produce goods at a cost lower than our foreign competitors and actually create jobs in the local markets. Private prisons could teach technical skills and actually rehabilitate the prisoners so they are ready to rejoin society with a confidence in themselves not experienced under current methods of incarceration.

A private prison creates jobs. Sure the prisoners are working, but those aren't the only jobs created. Let's say a prison is producing tomatoes. The prisoners are paid wages equal to foreign farm labor, but a few things happen when the raw product is closer to home. Now someone builds a processing plant nearby to make salsa or ketchup, possibly using the prison labor for some of the tasks. The difference in wages allows the privatized prison to pay for room and board, medical expenses, and basic clothing and toiletries for its prisoners. But, it has also created a micro economy that needs shipping, packaging and distribution. This allows for entrepreneurs to open restaurants, gas stations, stores and other businesses that will benefit from the increased traffic the prison has created.

A lower wage worker and shorter distance from market means the product can compete with other low cost products produced abroad. But there is also a benefit from the prisoners contributing something to their local society. A prison now adds jobs and industry to an area where it would otherwise have a social and economic cost. A house has a lower property value the closer it is to a prison, but it has a higher value the closer it is to an industrial center. There is a stigma that comes from living near a prison, and growing up near one I know. It is not a source of pride for a community. However, when a prison becomes a vital part of the local economy, it can become a source of value. When the community understands how vital the prison is, it is less likely to pre-judge its tenants.

Prisons are designed, ideally, to rehabilitate prisoners. But watch any documentary on the prison system and you see it as a holding place until sentences are completed, or paroles are granted. With an actual job and skills being developed and learned, a prisoner has an opportunity to change their course. When they leave the prison, they have developed skills, such as agricultural knowledge given the example here, or technical knowledge regarding the production of secondary goods. Combine this with a form of state sponsored education ( we do this for non-prisoners ), and you have a new person entirely. Give a person a set of skills, experience in a field, and an education and they will demonstrate a true confidence in themselves.

Now I won't say that this would work for all prisoners. There would need to be a filter to determine who could be best used and how. Perhaps a more aggressive hybrid system where the state and private business work hand in hand. There are communities that are trying this already, but there is a lot of red tape. There is also the consideration of slavery. Would we as a society be encouraged to incarcerate more people for lesser crimes? There is definitely a lot to consider. But we have seen our prison population rise by over 300% in 40 years. We have had the costs of incarceration increase as well. Obviously the current school of thought is not working as intended. So if we can privatize and demonstrate a reduction in costs, an increase in economy, a reduction in returning prisoners, why wouldn't we?

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