Very few colleges or universities offer any type of course specifically designed for teachers who wish to work in corrections. There are not enough counselors to meet the demand for treatment programs for inmates. In 1992 Texas began providing therapeutic communities to inmates in a few select prisons. Counselor turnover was extremely high. Counselors were not comfortable with the security demands, and did not have sufficient training for working with inmates functioning on low academic levels.
Private companies see an opportunity to make huge profits.
Once a company has invested a lot of money to build a prison, there is no incentive for reducing recidivism. However, both state and private prisons have traditionally operated as manufacturing plants and career criminals are the product that has been sold to the public at a great human and financial cost.