Preview

'Programs Not Profits' By Donald Cohen

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
300 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
'Programs Not Profits' By Donald Cohen
The article written by Donald Cohen talks about how Americans, citizens and policy makers alike, feel that the privatization of prisons is worsening the criminal justice system. The article stated about a consensus that mass incarceration is not safe nor beneficial for our communities. This conflicts with the interests of corporations, such as CCA and GEO, who would benefit in the increase of incarceration rates. Private prison corporations currently play a part in multiple aspects of the criminal justice policy process. A new campaign called ‘Programs Not Profits,’ is advocating for the money that go to private prisons and investing it in more job training, substance abuse treatment, and mental health care. ‘Programs Not Profits’ is only one
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Growth Complex Orientation Analysis
    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Growth Complex Orientation Analysis

    Part of the criminal justice system has become privatized and many investors hope to profit (Kraska, 2004). On the one hand, the investors create many jobs. For example, workers are needed to build prisons, supply prison food, supply prison clothes, and provide medical care. On the other hand, the investors need customers (i.e., inmates); hence, there is an incentive to confine people in prison. By locking people up in prison, the state effectively manages the surplus labor force, which is naturally generated in a capitalistic society (Kraska, 2004). Thus, politicians appear to be effectively serving the public. After all, jobs are created and there are fewer unemployed people in the…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Corporate Owned Prison Industrial Complex And Incarceration Case Study
    • 236 Words
    • 1 Page

    Corporate Owned Prison Industrial Complex And Incarceration Case Study

    I just recently learned that Private capital has become involved in the punishment industry and most prisons in the US are owned and operated by corporations. We all know that private business main goal is to make profit, they do not think how their decisions would affect the general public when making decisions. Prison Industrial Complex plays a big role in increased rates of incarceration because they “own the prisons and want to make profit from incarcerating as many people as possible” (Lecture pdf). Corporate owned prison system is an example of opportunistic capitalism and in this case some wealthy corporations benefiting incarcerating so many people. It is not different than…

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Private Prison System Summary
    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Private Prison System Summary

    It is through this particular study on the private prison system by Burkhardt and Jones that sociologists and even criminologists realize the historical importance of the private prison systems. Established within the early 1980s, the introduction of the private prison systems became as a technique to reducing the amount of litigation and judicial oversight demonstrated to the inmates within the federal prison systems. The private firms (prisons) were established in order to provide superior conditions (as public systems) while also decreasing the amount of lawsuits by inmates. It is because of their promise to demonstrate and uphold superior conditions within their systems that the amount of private prisons grew from roughly 67 established…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Pros And Cons Of Private Prisons
    • 234 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Pros And Cons Of Private Prisons

    When people think of prisons, they imagine that the occupants inside deserve to be there. That a person is doing their time for a crime committed. When it comes to privately owned prisons, the time doesn’t always fit the crime.…

    • 234 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Shana Bernstein's Bridges Of Reform
    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Shana Bernstein's Bridges Of Reform

    Throughout the 1900s, the United States of American dealt with civil rights issues. California struggled with civil rights starting with the labor wars all the way to the 1970s. In the book Bridges of Reform, the author, Shana Bernstein, focuses on civil rights activism in the West coast, specifically Los Angeles. Additionally, Bridges of Reform attempts to point out how important the West, especially cities like Los Angeles, were in dealing with a nation of civil rights issues. Bernstein successfully argues how coalitions among multiple races in Los Angeles helped shape civil rights battles not only in Los Angeles but across the nation.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    prison privatization policy
    • 2129 Words
    • 14 Pages

    prison privatization policy

    (2) Culp, Richard F. 2005. "The Rise and Stall of Prison Privatization: An Integration of Policy Analysis Perspectives." Criminal Justice Policy Review 16(4):412-42.…

    • 2129 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Overcrowded Prisons
    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Summary Of Overcrowded Prisons

    Stern’s (2006) book, “Creating Criminals: Prisons and People in a Market Society”, gives us the black and white truth about important topics that are not usually talked about in the media, nor acknowledged by most in American society. The author explains that she is in no way defending criminals with her literature, rather researching and informing society about the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system and the market society. She argues that many policies go in favor towards those who have money, leaving people who don’t have money behind, which ultimately leads to creating criminals. She explains the dangers of overcrowded prisons, who are the people more likely to be imprisoned, and the role of a market society within…

    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Private Prisons Case Study
    • 3185 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Private Prisons Case Study

    Privately owned prisons began to emerge in the mid-1980s. These prisons emerged because of the ideological imperatives of the free market, the huge increase in the number of prisoners, and the substantial increase in imprisonment costs. (1) Proponents of privatized prisons put forward a simple case: The private sector can do it cheaper and more efficiently. Corporations such as Correction Corporation of America and Wackenhut promised design and management innovations without reducing costs or sacrificing quality of service. (1) Many interest groups comprised of correctional officers, labor works, and a few citizen groups strongly oppose the privatization of the prison system. I will identify four of these groups that oppose private prisons,…

    • 3185 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Pros And Cons Of Prison Privatization
    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Pros And Cons Of Prison Privatization

    Many contend that the current state of affairs will not work in the 21st century. Some argue that the public sector is incapable of handling the complex and changing dynamics associated with corrections, and therefore more prisons need to be handed over to the private sector; others argue that private industry should not be a part of the public matter of penalizing offenders of crime. Although the private sector has had a long history of involvement in corrections, private prisons make up less than 5 percent of the current market. This study offers a review of the history of privatization, presents a review of relevant research on the issues involved, and compares some of the major findings from the National Survey of State Prison Privatization, 1997, conducted by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (1998) and the Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1995, conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (1997a), on the benefits and costs associated with private- and public-managed prison facilities.…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Private Prisons Pros And Cons
    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Private Prisons Pros And Cons

    First, we have the safety concern that critics bring up when the topic of private prisons is mentioned. Secondly, we have the dependency issue they bring up when talking about data relating to the industry’s growth in the last decade. Finally, we have the issue of keeping inmates locked up in order for the private prisons to make more money. Since private prisons are in the business of making money, they are always tempted to cut corners to turn a greater profit each quarter. They do this by hiring people who are not properly trained when compared to a staff member who is employed by a publicly prison ran by the state. In fact “private prison employees receive 58 hours less training than their publicly employed counterparts” (Mason). A nationwide study found that “assaults on guards by inmates were 49 percent more frequent in private prisons” (Smith). The study also saw that inmate-on-inmate assaults were “65 percent more frequent in private prison” (Smith). Given these statistics, those who are critics of private prisons have a valid reason for concern. These statistics allow for critics to show that there is a strong possibility that the lack of training given by private prisons. Leads to a higher risk of violence within the prison walls. Since their staff members are not adequately trained to handle the duties they are required to perform on a day to day basis. Furthermore, dependency is an issue…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Criminal Justice Reform Case Study
    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Criminal Justice Reform Case Study

    Criminal justice stakeholders affected by various social, political, economic, and institutional forces throughout the last five decades have implemented policies that have increased reliance on incarceration and its punitive purpose. In contemporary criminal justice reform efforts to scale back mass incarceration, some of the most active stakeholders have been this year’s presidential candidates, the for-profit prison industry, and community-based organizations.…

    • 708 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Costs of incarceration
    • 2317 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Costs of incarceration

    In 2009, the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) requested $6.8 billion for prisoner detention, which is an increase of $136,000,000 from 2008 (USDOJ, 2008). Concurrently, a conservative estimate of the cost for one career criminal a decade ago was $1,500,000 (Cohen, 1998) and has now substantially increased to between $2,600,000 to $5,300,000 (Cohen & Piquero, 2009). Similarly, the direct cost of incarceration is approximately $20,000 to $40,000 per offender (Spelman, 2009). Tax payers, who financially support the justice system, are forced into an economic and social bind. Money like this is the reason why research is being done to see whether or not the tax payers’ dollars are really worth the spending on incarceration or other options. If the average cost of incarceration is $20,000 to $40,000 per offender then imagine separate programs that the prisoner’s will go through to cut their time down. The biggest issue here is not wasting the money on prisoner’s to just lower sentencing, but rather help fix the offender and get him/her back on the streets a better person and to not come back. In other words try and cut down recidivism rates.…

    • 2317 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Beyond the prison bubble
    • 259 Words
    • 1 Page

    Beyond the prison bubble

    In, “Beyond the Prison Bubble,” published in the Wilson Quarterly in the winter 2011, Joan Petersilia shows different choices about the imprisonment systems. The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any free nation (para.1). The crime rate over a thirty year span had grown by five times since 1960 to 1990. There are more people of color or Hispanics in federal and state institutions then there are of any other nationality. The prison system is growing more than ever; the growth in twenty years has been about 21 new prisons. Mass imprisonment has reduced crime but, has not helped the inmate to gradually return back to society with skills or education. But the offenders leaving prison now are more likely to have fairly long criminal records, lengthy histories of alcohol and drug abuse, significant periods of unemployment and homelessness, and physical or mental disability (par.12).…

    • 259 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Private Prison Benefits
    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Private Prison Benefits

    It is a scary thought that the United States holds 25% of the words incarcerated. That means that every 1 out of 4 people in jail, is in the U.S. This means that we have a large part of our economy due to prisons. We have private clubs such as Alec, that works with politicians so they can make more money off of the prison system. (13th) Some companies that are included in this club are those who supply the food to the prisons, those who run the prisons medical facilities, and even those who work on probation and parole. If we were to let people out of prisons who shouldn’t be in there, it would drastically affect these corporations profits.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Pros And Cons Of Prisons
    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Pros And Cons Of Prisons

    In society today, it is commonly known that crime rate has increased dramatically by the years. This is where many of us look for ways to solve such issue. It is the last place anybody would want to be in. but unfortunately we have hundreds of thousands of them, if not millions around the world. Thousands in just the United States, Those are prisons. Just hearing that word makes us think bad things right away. Murder, theft, violence, and everything bad that happens in this world. We live in a world where prisons and jail are very important and almost every country, state, county, or city must have at least one. Prisons now are much more crowded than they were 20 years ago. The number of inmates in just the United States has doubled between the years of 1992 and 2011. The question many of us should ask ourselves is why do we need prisons? Are prisons effective in any way? Are prisons causing economic issues? Are prisoners getting proper treatment while incarcerated?…

    • 1556 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics