Writing an essay for my anthropology class (understanding refugees) about a pertinent issue related to private detention in the US made me think about the whole system in general. We all know that the United States has a high ratio of inmates and since the late 1990's the number increased steadily, on a scale, that in many states the capacities are full. The result is an increase of private detention facilities. 

Lurid headlines about private prisons who neglect their inmates, in order to save as much money as possible, is a matter we all know too well. This includes bad health care, mismanagement, human rights abuse, unhealthy food, case of deaths and much more. The list is long. These sure are problems we have to care about, but in the first place: it's not a question of efficiency, punishment or adequacy. It's not even about rights. It is a question of responsibility. Why does the state need to transfer the responsibility onto private companies in the first place? It seems like private prisons are not the best, but the most convenient solution. The state saves around 15% of cost when assigning private detention facilities, because those companies usually build and operate faster and with lower costs, since they do not employ civil servants. 

And that is exactly the main issue of prisons in general: it is all profit-oriented, and private prisons in a much more intense way. Only blaming private prisons is not justified because, as David Ricardo already outlined 1817 in his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, it's the demand that determines supply. The change depends on the state, and its duty is so be inmate-oriented. Prisons ought to be about resocialization and rehabilitation of human beings. The state, as a custodian of people, has the undoubted responsibility to offer the best it can, regardless of money, effort or time. And we, the people, are in charge of maintaining the states responsibility.