Prison Privatization: In Search of a Business-Like Atmosphere?

• NCJ Number: 224334
• Journal: Criminology & Criminal Justice Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2008 Pages: 261-278
• Author(s): Guy Shefer; Alison Liebling
• Date Published: August 2008
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines findings on the relationship between prisoners and staff as determined by early studies that have compared the conditions and operations of private and public prisons in the United Kingdom.

Abstract

In a comprehensive comparison of public and private prisons conducted in 2003 by the National Audit Office, the most significant difference between private and public-sector prisons was the superior quality of the interaction between staff and prisoners in private prisons. Similar findings resulted from research by James et al. (1997). The latter study investigated the Wolds prison, the first adult prison that was contracted out to a private firm. The researchers reported that prisoners “spoke highly of the staff working at Wolds.” Sixty-three percent of the prisoners described their relationships with the staff as “mostly good” or “very good.” Prisoners particularly noted the greater respect shown to the prisoners by staff in Wolds. An inspection of Wolds prison conducted by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in 2004 showed that prisoners’ views of their relationship with staff had not changed significantly since the study by James et al. Other reports on private prisons have commented on courteous interaction between staff and prisoners in the various contexts of prison programming and operations. This article offers three possible explanations for the distinctive quality of prisoner-staff relationships in many private prisons during these early years. One explanation is private prisons’ intentional focus on relaxed and less formal prison regimes. A second explanation is a shift in the balance of power between prisoners and staff due to an inexperienced and less hardened staff working in private prisons. A third explanation is the absence of a legacy of a punitive atmosphere that has evolved and persists in some public-sector prisons. 12 notes and 50 references