NCJ Number
80133
Date Published
1980
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This Canadian article proposes privatization as a means of making corrections more cost-effective.
Abstract
Contextual constraints that prevent corrections from being effective are a role conflict that inhibits concerted action to correct the offender and impediments to entrepreneurial activity oriented toward the development of corrections programs. Remedial action should alter the contextual structure of corrections so as to remove the aforementioned constraints. A primary remedy would be the privatization of corrections. The proposed system would consist of individuals establishing themselves in correctional or criminological practice after they have received the requisite basic training and the licensing approval of a controlling body. The service provided by private corrections practitioners would be those they themselves consider necessary to keep the offender from recidivating. Clients would come primarily from court assignment, but acceptance of each client would be voluntary and only after determining that the services offered by the private practitioner are appropriate for the particular offender. Before referring an offender to a particular private practitioner, the effectiveness of the services would be assessed by measures of past performance. Privatized corrections would (1) resolve the conflict in correctional objectives that currently plagues therapists' work with offenders, (2) establish a direct link between the court and the practitioner, and (3) promote the establishment of a bond between the practitioner and the client based on a clear understanding of the objectives of the relationship. Twenty-one references are listed.