[redpoint5]

I'm mostly ignorant on the topic of private prisons. I could be in favor of them so long as it has a non-biased regulatory body overseeing decisions that have conflicts of interest, such as keeping prisoners longer to boost revenue.

That said, there's generally very little difference between prisoners and prison guards. They're both in prison, interact with that population of people, and have varying degrees of skill in negotiating conflict.

My experience in public prison is that a guard flat out told me in my first week that his goal was to make me "lose my good time" (20% good behavior reduction). He would fake like he was going to punch me, or insult me in an attempt to illicit a reaction. One time he unlocked my footlocker, strewed about my stuff, and then wrote me up for having an unlocked footlocker and an unkept bunk.

I didn't lose a day of goodtime because I refused to sink to his level. In my mind, I was getting out in 10.4 months, and he would still be in prison. The other guards knew his character, and they knew mine, so he really didn't have much leeway in what he could get away with. Most of the control he had over me is what I would give to him by reacting, which was nothing. My celly (bunkmate) got rolled up (sent to another prison) inside of a week because he let that punk officer get to him.