Is it normal that I feel empathy for criminals?

Darkly amusing parallel.

I've never understood why some people choose to become prison officers. It seems to me that it's one of those jobs (being a politician is another) where a desire to do the job should automatically disqualify you from ever holding the position. That's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but what I mean is that if you feel a deep attraction to the idea of controlling other people and bossing them around, you're exactly the wrong person to be put in a position where you can do that.

The idea of businesses running prisons is truly perverse. Locking people up is a necessary evil because there are those in the world who wish to do others harm. Prisons should be something that the state provides as part of its role of protecting the well-being of citizens as a whole, not a means for companies to pare costs to the bone and make a good return for shareholders.