Visual Communication in Business - Privatization of Prisons - Case Study Example

Visual Communication in Business of the Name of the Concerned Professor December 28, 2008 Visual Communication in Business (Privatization of Prisons) With the onset of globalization, the trend towards privatization is invading every sphere of life. The corporate world and the international financial institutions are increasingly pressing upon the governments all over the world including the US to go for the full blown privatization of the state run facilities. This thrust towards privatization seems to be relevant in the sense that time and again various private and public studies and reports have stressed upon the inefficiency, corruption and the lack of accountability rampant in the state run facilities. The disturbing question that emerges in this context is that should the sensitive and socially vital institutions like the prisons be exposed to the gross blunt of privatization? Should the private corporations be allowed to handle the socially crucial institutions like prisons? Pragmatically speaking, private corporations are certainly not the qualified and valid entities to be trusted with the management and administration of law and order related institutions like prisons, which serve a broader purpose in the society and hence aught to be guided by humane and ethical considerations, rather then being subjected to purely monetary targets and objectives. The very fact that the private corporations work for purely profit motives renders them incapable of being allowed to run the prisons or any other institution that is basically expected to adhere to welfare objectives and rehabilitation goals, even at the cost of incurring some losses. A realistic comprehension of this complex idea can be facilitated by the usage of various approaches to visual communication like charts and graphs, maps and cartoons and illustrations. It is imperative to understand that there exist primarily two ethical approaches pertaining to the institution of prisons. There is one school of thought that holds that the prisons should have a deterrent effect on the criminals and antisocial elements and hence the prisons should be stringent in their approach towards prisoners, so far as the availability of basic facilities is concerned. There is one another school of thought that is more contemporary and humane in its approach and holds that the prisons are the places that give the criminals a chance to pay their debt to the society. Such thinkers believe that prisoners should not only be provided with the basic amenities and health facilities in the prisons, but must also be extended the opportunity for rehabilitation and assimilation into the public mainstream in the form of vocational courses and counseling facilities. This approach is not only human, but is also in line with the current shift in the public values throughout the world. Now, if the private corporations are allowed to run the prisons, they will certainly desist from extending such facilities to the prisoners as this will not only increase the overall cost of running the prisons, but will diminish the net profit. The main reason for the enhanced interest of the state and the federal governments in the privatization of the prisons is an overcrowding of the government run prisons. This raises the curiosity of any vigilant citizen as to why the private corporations are interested in running the prisons? The answer is simple. In the last two decades, running the prisons in the US has become a big industry that has a massive scope for growth and there is no dearth of corporations that are interested in extracting their share of booty in this lucrative business. Infact the gross revenues of the private prison industry exceeded well over $1 billion in the year the year 1997. This scope for enticing profits has attracted the attention of many private corporations and they are entering this business not out of any human or social considerations, but purely out of pecuniary motives. Table 1: Firms Operating in the United States in 1999 Management Firm Capacity of Facilities Under Contract in United States Market Share of United States Contracts Alternative Programs, Inc. 340 0.3% Avalon Correctional Services, Inc. 350 0.3% The Bobby Ross Group 464 0.4% CiviGenics, Inc. 2,791 2.3% Cornell Corrections, Inc. 7,138 5.8% Correctional Services Corporation 6,517 5.3% Correctional Systems, Inc. 272 0.2% Corrections Corporation of America 68,256 55.6% The GRW Corporation 362 0.3% Management & Training Corporation 9,177 7.5% Maranatha Production Company 500 0.4% Wackenhut Corrections Corporation 26,704 21.7% Totals 122,871 100% (Thomas, 1997, p.6) The above table conclusively depicts the number of private corporations that are running the prisons in the US. Infact on can clearly see that Corrections Corporations of America and Wackenhut Corrections Corporation are the biggest players in this industry and the number of inmates in the private prisons in 1999 exceeded well over 1, 00,000. The usage of this table is highly effective in extending the scope of this discussion in the sense that it not only helps the readers in grasping the industrial and monetary aspects of the industry under consideration, but also allows for a concise and compact presentation of the empirical facts. This allows the readers to draw clear conclusions from the given table and makes it easier for them to draw the appropriate inferences. Infact this table leads to two main conclusions. One that the private corporations see prisons as markets and not as welfare institutions, and second that they will go to any extent to augment and enhance their share in this market. After all, at the end of the day, the corporations are answerable to their stockholders. The tragedy is that the state and the federal governments have chosen to shy away from their welfare responsibilities towards the prisoners and have decided to trust the private players with the management of sensitive institutions like prisons. This has happened despite the fact highlighted by various news reports and enquiries that the private prisons are not only understaffed, but the staff posted there is mostly untrained and ill equipped. This has the potential to jeopardize the safety and well being of not only the prisoners incarcerated in theses prisons, but also of the citizens residing in the vicinity of such facilities. The map given below clearly depicts that a majority of the states in the US like Texas, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Montana, and Alaska are moving fast towards the privatization of prisons. This map not only serves as an interesting visual aid to stress upon the ongoing and alarming trend towards the privatization (OK DOC, 2002) of prisons in the US, but also helps in presenting the complex data pertaining to this issue in a simple and direct way. This not only enhances the readers’ levels of comprehension, but also makes this discussion more interactive. The private corporations are promptly responding to this opportunity by making massive investments in constructing new prisons. As a result of this phenomenon, where the state run prisons are getting overcrowded, the private prisons are increasing their capacity on a large scale to accommodate more prisoners and hence to accomplish a direct increase in their profits. The horizontal bar graph given below precisely and effectively depicts this new trend. It is really effective in the sense that it allows the readers to grasp the intended message at a glance and makes the available data less puzzling and complex to understand. It (Thomas, 1999, p.28) saves the readers the trouble of assessing trends from the raw data and allows them to draw conclusions with ease and simplicity. Often the experts tend to contend that the privatization of public facilities enhances the quality of services provided by them. The supporters of privatization argue that private prisons are run more efficiently and economically. They fail to understand that the American society is not only about affluence and economy, but also about values and ethics. The American democracy is about rights and even the prisoners are also subject to some basic legal and human rights. The private prisons boast of their efficiency by quoting some sterile financial facts like the cost of operations, costs per inmate per day and what not. To achieve this cost efficiency, they do not hesitate from depriving the prisoners of proper nutrition, health care and rehabilitation support. (Montague, 2001, p.25) The above given horizontal bar graph is based on a study conducted in New Mexico pertaining to the efficiency of private prisons. As this graph reveals, the private prisons performed well as compared to the public prisons in all the categories like security, safety, order, justice, management, etc., accept for one major factor that is care. This graph amply reveals that the private prisons are sans any human concerns and sensitivity and extend poor services to the inmates. This graph is very effective in the sense that it reveals the major lacuna existing in the private prisons at a glance and spares the readers the botheration of going over the entire study to cull out the relevant results. It substantiates and supports this discussion and leaves no doubts pertaining to the point extended by this paper. The other reason to get worried in the context of the privatization of the prisons is the immense clout enjoyed by the private corporations in the American political and social life. As the private prisons are paid by the government for per prisoner per day, they can use their influence to tilt the political and legal system in their favor to enhance their profits. It is a known fact that the corporate world enjoys an immense clout in the state and the federal legislatures. In fact it is an undeniable aspect of the American democracy. Thus the corporations can use their political power to bring in harsher laws so as to ensure a large number of inmates in their facilities. The second way the private prisons can influence the judicial system so as to retain a prisoner for a long time is by extending fabricated or false records pertaining to indiscipline and insubordination while parole hearings. There also exists a valid possibility that such prisons can extend undue advantages to the members of mafia in return for material benefits. Such instances are not rare in the state run prisons. The staff at the private prisons being low paid and less liable to accountability is definitely more vulnerable to such temptations. The private prisons can also use the inmates as cheap labor to increase their profits. Ultimately the goal of every corporation is to increase its profits. Hence there exists no reason why private prisons should make investments in the care, welfare and rehabilitation of the prisoners, especially when they are known to gain more by retaining the inmates for longer periods. (SchNews, 2008) The above given cartoon effectively elaborates such discrepancies in the intentions and objectives of the privately run prisons. The given cartoon encapsulates this complex issue in a witty and ironical manner. It impinges upon and stimulates the audience to stop and think. The simplicity of this cartoon is disturbing and raises many questions that bolster the entire discussion. The humor inherent in it challenges ones preconceived notions and assumptions pertaining to the privatization of the prisons. There is no denying the fact that the privatization of the public services is a good step and has conclusively resulted in the improvement of standards in many spheres of public life. Still, privatization cannot be touted as a panacea for all evils and there exist some areas of concern like the prisons that are expected to serve well under the state. Prisons have more to do with rehabilitation and assimilation and one cannot expect the private corporations to invest in such areas, especially when they are expected to make profits at all costs. The visual aids like the tables, graphs, map and the cartoon included in this paper work together to amply and effectively testify to this fact. They enable the readers to assimilate the quintessence of this paper in an easy manner and certainly bolster and improve the overall quality of the entire premise behind this paper. Thus it is difficult to mention that which visual approach is more effective. Each of the visual approach incorporated in this paper serves a definite purpose and all of them work in unison to enrich the quality of this discussion References Montague, Eric. (2001). Private Prisons: A Sensible Solution. Policy Brief. Washington Policy Center DOC. (2002). State of Oklahoma. Retrieved Dec. 28, 2008, from http://www.doc .state.ok.us/docs/private_prisons.htm Prison Privatization. (2008). SchNews. Retrieved Dec. 28, 2008, from http://www .schnews.org.uk/satire/index-prisons.html Thomas, Charles. (1997). Private Corrections Research and Information. Retrieved Dec. 28, 2008, from http://web.crim.ufl.edu/pcp Thomas, Charles. (1999). Comparing the Cost and Performance of Prisons in Arizona. Arizona Joint Legislative Committee The Proposal In the last two decades, both the state and federal governments have been trying to privatize most of the public services and institutions coming within their ambit. There is no denying the fact that privatization has certain advantages and is mostly expected to enhance efficiency and economy. However, the efficacy of the privatization cannot be generalized to include certain crucial and sensitive institutions like prisons, which have distinct, social, legal and ethical objectives. The rehabilitation and assimilation of prisoners in the public mainstream requires commitment and massive investments. On the contrary, private corporations run purely out of profit motives and thus cannot be trusted with the care of prisons and prisoners. Besides such a trend could have debilitating political, social and legal repercussions. Thus prisons in the US should not be privatized. Approaches to visual communication to be used in this paper: 1. Charts, graphs and tables- Allow for an easy and precise presentation of the complex data. 2. Maps- Enable the readers to have a holistic and broad view of the issue under consideration. 3. Cartoons: Stimulate and force the readers to think beyond their preconceived notions. Read More