NCJ Number
102864
Journal
Philadelphia Inquirer Dated: (August 3, 1986) Pages: 14-24
Date Published
1986
Length
10 pages
Annotation
One of the recent developments in American corrections is the concept of privately operated prisons for profit.
Abstract
Motivated by the $10 billion a year that now goes into housing and feeding the Nation's inmates, more corporations are offering to take over operation of jails and prisons and operate them at a profit. Many of these corporate wardens are gilding their offers with promises of trained guards, rehabilitation programs, and assumption of any legal liabilities. Many agencies, both State and Federal, have found these offers irresistible. Rationales for private operation of prisons center on the greater cost-effectiveness of a less bureaucratic, profit-oriented system of management. One company, the Corrections Corporation of America, now runs a variety of juvenile and adult facilities, including detention facilities, halfway houses, and a maximum-security prison, in several States. However, despite initial successes and savings to municipalities, the for-profit system is not without its critics. Major opposition has centered on legal obligations of government and the private sector, employment of correctional personnel, and the quality of services provided profitability is a major consideration. In Pennsylvania, such concerns have resulted in the passage of a bill imposing a 7-month moratorium on any new private prisons.