Corrections Accreditation and Privatization

Correctional facilities, today, operate on standards that would be unheard of in the past. The jails and prison of the past lacked a certain sense of humanity and an ability to show society that the prison was a place of reformation rather than condemnation. The standards for which correctional facilities follow come from the Commission on Accreditation in Corrects (CAC). The CAC developed the standards followed in todays prisons. Accreditation officially began in 1978, jointly administered by the CAC and the American Correctional Association.

What is corrections accreditation? The accreditation program offers public and private organizations performing correctional functions the opportunity to evaluate their operations against national standards, to remedy deficiencies, and to upgrade the quality of correctional programs and services (Foster, 2006). Benefits from the accreditation process are the following: improved management; defense against lawsuits through documentation and the demonstration of a good faith effort to improve conditions of confinement; increased accountability and enhanced public credibility for administrative and line staff; a safe and more humane environment for personnel and offenders; and establishment of measurable criteria for upgrading programs, personnel, and physical plant on a continuing basis (Foster, 2006). Professional development in the corrections officer is truly affected by accreditation. The corrections officer works toward compliance with the standards that represent the professions best practices and they take pride in their work and professionalism as a result.

Privatization, in relation to prisons, is the private operation of secure prisons and jails (Foster, 2006). The movement towards the privatization of corrections in the United States is a result of the convergence of two factors: the unprecedented growth of the US prison population since 1970 and the emergence out of the Reagan era of a political environment favorable to freemarket solutions. Since the first private prison facility was opened in 1984, the industry has grown rapidly; gross revenues exceeded $1 billion in 1997 (Prison Reform Coalition, n.d.). Privatization affects state and federal prison systems with a few advantages. Some of the advantages are privatization frees up scarce government resources for other priorities, such as education, health care, and other concerns; can achieve economies in the area of everyday operating cost; the quality of services and programs in privatized facilities can be superior to what otherwise would have been provided (Foster, 2006). Private prisons meet the correctional criteria with state and federal prisons at the same level of efficiency. Though private prisons house a higher proportion of minimum-custody inmates and have the same staffing patterns, provide the same level of work, education, and counseling programs for inmates, and have the same rates of serious inmate misconduct as public facilities (Foster, 2006).

Privatization and corrections accreditation in the prison system have evolved greatly in the last 30 years. Corrections accreditation has helped to improve the quality of life for inmates throughout the prison system and also helped make the image of corrections a more acceptable form of rehabilitation. Privatization has helped the state and federal prison in parts that it relieves the overcrowding of state and federal prisons and also helps the government save funds for other government programs.

References

Foster, B. (2006). Corrections: The Fundamentals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Prison Reform Coalition. (n.d.). Privatization of Prisons. Retrieved from http://privatizationofprisons.com/