Private Prisons, Private Programs, and Their Implications for Reducing Reliance on Imprisonment in the United States

• NCJ Number: 100191
• Journal: Prison Journal Volume: 65 Issue: 2 Dated: (Autumn-Winter 1985) Pages: 60-74
• Author(s): R Immarigeon
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. For microfiche, see NCJ-100185.

Annotation

The analysis of the use of private financing for jail and prison construction and the use of private presentence reports considers their

Abstract

Little research has focused either on the level of support for expanding private sector involvement in criminal justice or on the viability, potential extent, or implications of the private financing or operation of jails and prisons. Nevertheless, privatization of corrections is increasing. Privatization of corrections has many problems. One of its most serious effects is its active promotion of the existing public policies concerning the use and expansion of imprisonment. On the other hand, the use of private presentence reports is a positive development in encouraging alternatives to incarceration. However, private and probation presentence reports now involve too few offenders to have a significant overall impact. In addition, despite the values they implicitly reflect, they are unlikely to change the context in which they are used. The United States puts too many people in prisons, and imprisonment has not remedied the crime problem. Research recommendations and 35 references.