Therefore they have little incentive to rehabilitate prisoners or to prevent recidivism. Indeed, it is in their economic interest to have more crime, more incarceration, and more recidivism, all of which lead to more profits. The logic of the profit motive is to cut costs. In privately operated prisons, this is usually achieved by cutting staff, payroll, benefits, supplies, security, and rehabilitation programming for prisoners. Such cuts lead to a decreased sense of professionlism and a higher rate of turnover among employees, greater hopelessness and bitterness among prisoners, and greater threats to the safety of staff, prisoners, and the general public, especially in the local community.
Private prisons hurt local and state economies.
Contracting out operations exports taxpayer monies from local communities to corporations often headquartered out of state. For existing prisons, communities lose public sector jobs with family-supporting wages and benefits, and civil service job security. Local communities which provide supplies, services or equipment to government agencies lose out when a large contractor, usually based out of state, wins a contract to operate a former government facility. Finally, when private prisons contract out bed space to prisoners from distant states, it makes it more difficult for families, friends, ministers, attorneys, and advocates to visit them for support, or counsel. This also increases their chances of recidivism when they are released.