> 1) Are privately run prisons better for the good of society than publicly run prisons? What does the research say? How biased is the research? etc.
Prisons in general are bad for society. Prison stays are highly deleterious to people and the communities they will return to. Non-violent crimes should certainly not result in prison time, there is no productive reason for that to happen. Property crimes (e.g. theft) are come about from how society is structured and we would be better off addressing social inequality than investing in increasing incarceration. Violent crimes may be better handled with systems that are structurally different from the current prison system.
> 2) More importantly, regardless of whether they are private or public prisons, how do we get less people to be living in them? What are our other options?
War on drugs must end. Social inequality with regards to poverty and homelessness need to be seriously tackled. Racism and sexism need to be addressed from a systemic aspect. Finally for those violent crimes that do require some kind of social response alternatives to the current prison system should be explored.
Prisons in general are bad for society. Prison stays are highly deleterious to people and the communities they will return to. Non-violent crimes should certainly not result in prison time, there is no productive reason for that to happen. Property crimes (e.g. theft) are come about from how society is structured and we would be better off addressing social inequality than investing in increasing incarceration. Violent crimes may be better handled with systems that are structurally different from the current prison system.
> 2) More importantly, regardless of whether they are private or public prisons, how do we get less people to be living in them? What are our other options?
War on drugs must end. Social inequality with regards to poverty and homelessness need to be seriously tackled. Racism and sexism need to be addressed from a systemic aspect. Finally for those violent crimes that do require some kind of social response alternatives to the current prison system should be explored.