Private Prisons

Prisons and institutions that are similar to them are essential in the sense of punishing offenders, but most importantly rehabilitating them to be better law-abiding citizens and deter them from committing the same offense. Prisons are commonly run by governments that provide the basic logistics and criteria for running such institutions CITATION Jew06 p 5 l 2057 (Jewkes and Johnston 5). However, there was an interesting change of the game as from the 1990s when UK authorities decided to introduce private prisons. Currently, it is estimated that there are 184 private prisons, holding 132,346 inmates, in the world. In the United States, 158 private prisons operate in 30 states. CITATION Aus13 p 9 l 2057 (Austin and Coventry 9) The issue of private prisons has for a long time been a contentious one due to the many questions raised on the credibility of such institutions and their ability to function without manipulation and external interference. The introduction of private prisons was set to meet certain objectives that were drawn from emerging issues on how the government prisons are run. Authorities saw the need to reduce congestion of prisons and improve their standards. Overcrowding was the major reason for the introduction of private prisons due to the increasing number of minor offenders convicted on short prison terms. The increasing number of prisoners meant that they had to share the few resources available leading to the dwindling of sanitation and other basic s…