NCJ Number
238637
Date Published
May 2012
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This report describes the findings of conversations with several experts in corrections privatization; reviews the academic, legal, and media literature on private prisons; and offers recommendations for responding to the expansion of private prisons.
Abstract
The focus of this report is on the cost-effectiveness of private secure, locked facilities for adults. An overview notes that along with the increased number of inmates incarcerated in the United States due to "tough on crime" laws and policies that began in the 1980s and continued into the 2000s came an increase in the number of inmates held in private, for-profit facilities. Large correctional facilities wholly managed by for-profit companies began in the mid-1980s. The percentage of U.S. prisoners held in private facilities increased from just over 3 percent in 1995 to 8 percent in 2010. Currently, 2 private companies - Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the GEO Group - hold the majority of private prison contracts in the United States, with each company operating approximately 65 facilities. Federal, State, and local governments that privatize correctional services enter into a contractual relationship with a private prison company. The details of this procedure are explained in this report. This is followed by a discussion of the key claims made by private prison proponents. Another section of the report discusses how the profit motive that drives the privatization of prison management creates a conflict of interest in the areas of staffing and services, length of stay, and the provision of services for inmates. The political and lobbying influence of private prison corporations is also discussed, since their profits depend on the enactment of law favorable to the expansion of the use of prisons and the number of prison beds. Recommendations are offered for contracting, oversight, and monitoring of private prisons by government agencies. 2 figures and 126 references