NCJ Number
174912
Journal
Criminal Justice Ethics Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: Winter/Spring 1997 Pages: 26-38
Date Published
1997
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This paper critiques the ethical values of private prisons based on consequentialist, retributive, and communicative theories.
Abstract
Consequentialist theories view the prevention of crime to be the justifying aim of punishment; retributive theories perceive the restoration of justice to be the justifying aim of punishment; and communicative theories consider the justifying aim of punishment to be some form of constructive communication between society and offenders. This paper briefly develops each type of theory, citing specific versions, and then identifies issues the theory raises regarding the cost-benefit of private prisons. Issues for consequentialists are whether private prisons will dehumanize prisoners less and decrease the spread of criminal culture both within and outside prisons, whether the reduced cost of private prisons and lobbying by the private prison corporations will increase the use of incarceration, and whether private prisons will fuel social discontent as impoverished minorities are turned into raw materials for corporate profit. The primary issue raised by retributivists regarding private prisons is whether private interests might conflict with the demands of justice. The primary concern of supporters of communicative theory is whether private facilities, faced with the necessity of making a profit, would be inclined to cut corners and thus dilute or taint the moral message punishment is supposed to communicate. 43 notes