NCJ Number
196269
Journal
Punishment & Society Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2002 Pages: 321-344
Editor(s)
Alison Liebling,
Richard Sparks
Date Published
July 2002
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article discusses corrections privatization and explores the consequences of entrepreneurial involvement in corrections.
Abstract
The author explores the development of corrections privatization in Anglo-American criminal justice systems and discusses the underlying reasons posited for the development of the private prison industry. Specifically, the author discusses the perception that private prisons provide less expensive services than government run corrections facilities. The author then presents criticisms of prison privatization and states his hypothesis that the principle danger of privatized corrections is that the entrepreneurial nature of corporations and corporate actors will lead privatization providers to create demand for additional forms of social control as part of the corporate growth process. A historical overview of the impact of entrepreneurial activities on the development of criminal justice policies is provided. The author presents information concerning the development of modern American prisons and the evolution of the juvenile justice and community corrections system. The community corrections system for adult offenders and return to custody centers built for the Texas Department of Corrections and electronic monitoring are identified as examples of alternative social controls created or encouraged by the entrepreneurial nature of private prisons providers. 11 Notes, 62 references