Inmates Working for Private Industries - Assignment Example

Inmates Working for Private Industries First Inmates Working for Private Industries Inmates working in private sector organizations have both pros and cons. One of the most positive aspects of these programs is the fact that it results in a better way of reforming the inmates for life after incarceration. It does a better job of preparing the inmates for life after jail and makes them complete and more regular citizens and also prepares them well for life after they have completed their imprisonment.

It also equips them to handle the pressures and stresses of life after jail while also equipping them with valuable skills that will serve them well when they are out of prison. Studies have also shown that prisoners that undergo these programs are also less likely to commit crime and find themselves back in prison than those who do not participate in such programs (Atkinson & Rostad, 2003). There are also advantages in that this sort of arrangement allows American companies to produce goods at much reduced labor costs while at the same time producing truly “made in America” goods and reduces the transfer of labor to China and other parts of the world.

There are also a few cons to these programs. Especially with the current recession and general high unemployment rates for the rest of the American population, prison labor provides unfair competition in the job market since the inmates take jobs that would otherwise be done by the out of prison population (Associated Press, 2012). The programs have also been accused of being exploitative of the inmates in that they are paid salaries that are well below the minimum rate.2. There are many examples of such types of programs.

In South Carolina for example, employees from the Evans and Leath Correctional facilities work for the Escod Industries, a division of Insilco, a Columbus, Ohio based fortune 500 companies where they manufacture of electronic cables that are then sold to companies such as IBM and the Canadian-based Northern Telecom Corporation. In California, Trans World Airlines employs inmates from the California Youth Authority’s Ventura Training School for youthful offenders to take phone enquiries and schedule routes for their customers throughout the United States while in Phoenix Arizona, Best Western Internationals’ hotel reservations center was operated from the Arizona Correctional Facility for Women (Sexton, n.d.).2. A A lot of these programs are very successful, usually far surpassing their objectives and meeting and exceeding expectations.

The programs not only result in both the inmates, the organizations and the prison management authorities all benefitting but they also are doing a great deal in reforming the prisoners, one of the major objectives of their imprisonment. The programs have been successful because of the large labor force that forms the huge number of prisoners in jails in the United States. With more than 2 million prisoners, the country has the world’s largest prison population, even greater than the Chinese one, despite the fact that China has five times the US population.

A lot of these prisoners are in jail for non-violent usually drug-related crimes and are in jail for long terms and cost both the State and federal governments a lot maintenance and accommodation costs. The programs have gone a long way in bringing down some of these operation costs, to the advantage and benefit of all parties involved (Palaez, 2013).ReferencesAssociated Press. (2012, November 4). Prison factories: Should inmates be doing private-sector work? The Blade. Retrieved June 28, 2013, from http://www.

toledoblade.com/Nation/2012/11/04/Prison-factories-Should-inmates-be-doing-private-sector-work.htmlAtkinson, R., & Rostad, K. A. (2003, May). Can Inmates Become an Integral Part of the U.S. Workforce? The Urban Institute Reentry Roundtable Discussion Paper. Retrieved June 28, 2013, from http://www.caction.org/rrt_new/professionals/articles/ATKINSON-PRISONER%20REENTRY%20AND%20WORK.pdfPalaez, V. (2013, January 31). The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery? Global Research.

Retrieved June 28, 2013, from http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery/8289Sexton, G. E. (n.d.). Work in American Prisons:Joint Ventures with the Private Sector. National Institute of Justice. Retrieved June 28, 2013, from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/workampr.pdf