General Report of the Conference (From Privatization of Crime Control, P 109-124, 1990 -- See NCJ-130251)

• NCJ Number: 130255
• Author(s): H Jung
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 16 pages
• Corporate Author: Council of Europe
• Sale Source: Council of Europe Publications
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: France
• Note: Presented at the 18th Criminological Research Conference, 1988. Collected Studies in Criminological Research, Vol. 27.

Annotation

This Council of Europe conference considered the general question of privatization in criminal justice, focusing more specifically on crime prevention and detection. A general consensus was reached that privatization may be complicated by different ideological viewpoints, is affected by cross-cultural differences, and has been reluctantly accepted by governments in terms of converting crime control operations to profit-oriented activities.

Abstract

The arguments for privatization assume that the State has been unable to cope with the demands of criminal justice. Privatization is justified in terms of increased resources and efficiency. There are five aspects of the debate over privatization that are common to both crime control and criminal justice: fatigue with the welfare state, a move against augmenting existing services, a consideration of socio-psychological factors, legal challenges and liabilities, and the need for a redefinition of public and private sector. Developments in the privatization of police and penal services are briefly discussed. 40 references