Overview

Beginning in the mid 1980s, the privatization of jails and prisons burgeoned in the United States. Not only has there been a steady growth of private, for-profit operation of federal, state and county correctional facilities, but private firms have also become more involved in other aspects of the prison industry, such as the financing and construction of new prisons and the renovation of existing ones. Moreover, many of these private companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges. Perhaps more than with other service industries in this country, the privatization of prisons has become a growth industry. Yet, prison privatization continues to be one of the most controversial issues in public policy. Although sold to the public as a cost-saving measure, the privatization of prisons has not only led to significant changes in policy making and the management of prisons, but has also generated widespread concern that incarceration has become a profit-making industry. That, in turn, strengthens calls for policies on mandatory-minimum sentencing that keep the prison industry growing. After all, in order to be successful business enterprises, prisons will need occupants. What compels state policy makers to privatize their prisons? The conventional response by political and appointed policy leaders has consistently and unequivocally been that they wish to save costs. But the truth may be otherwise. Eugene Price illustrates that fiscal issues are often trumped by political factors when it comes to the decision to privatize. He examines the potential reasons why a state might choose to privatize its prisons, and considers financial and political aspects in depth. Ultimately he concludes that the desire to save costs is not the primary reason for state prison privatization. Rather, the more plausible explanations revolve around political and ideological factors such as the party of the governor and the overall political and ideological culture of the state. This work sets the record straight about the decision to privatize state prisons, revealing the political bias that often drives these policy choices.

Full Product Details

Author:   Byron Eugene Price
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Praeger Publishers Inc
Edition:   Annotated edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.10cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.482kg
ISBN:  

9780275987381

ISBN 10:   0275987388
Pages:   212
Publication Date:   30 March 2006
Recommended Age:   From 7 to 17 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction Organization States and the Prison Privatization Debate Historical Overview of Prison Privatization Privatization Climate The Meaning of Privatization The Case for Prison Privatization The Case against Prison Privatization Privatization Summary Explaining Prison Privatization: A View from the States Efficiency, Effectiveness and Quality Arguments: More for Your Money Cost Savings Studies Effectiveness Arguments: Getting the Job Done Quality Arguments: Improving Services for the Incarcerated Summary Debunking the Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Quality Arguments Critique of Economic/Efficiency Argument Hidden Costs Cost Incurred To Export Prisoners Tax Implications Liability Costs Critique of Effectiveness Argument Critique of the Quality Argument Does Competition Exist in the For-Profit Prison Environment? A Framework for Prison Privatization Economic Explanations Per Capita Income Tax Capacity Tax Effort Ideological Explanations Control of Legislature Governor's Party Political Ideology Political Explanations Crime Rates Neighboring States Privatization Behavior Political Culture Prison Capacity What's the Real Reason behind Prison Privatization from the State's Perspective? Speculative Prisons History of Speculative Prisons Speculative Prisons, Issues, and Inter-Jurisdictional Concerns Summary Private Prisons: A Vested Interests to Incarcerate The Political Economy of Prison Privatization Private Prisons and the Stock Market Prison Labor Prison Industries in American Corrections Contemporary Models Private Prisons as Economic Development Campaign Financing and Lobbying American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Corrections Commercial Complex The Census and Prisoners Equals Dollars and Representation for Rural Communities Felony Disenfranchisement The Higher Education Act Summary State of Prison Privatization and Conclusions Are States Still Pursuing Prison Privatization? What Issues or Problems Exist With Prison Priivatization? Health Care Human Rights State Fiscal Problems Safety Recurring Issues and Questions about Prison Privatization Concluding Remarks Endnotes Bibliography

Reviews

This book addresses one of the most critical issues of American society. The prison industrial complex has created a destructive connection between capitalist principles and social justice, which should never be bedfellows in a free society. As a Professor of Finance and Business, I can say that the advent of low wage competition in a global economy creates a direct incentive for American prisons to seek expansion in order to remain competitive. People of color have not escaped the jaws of slavery, we are stepping right into them. -Dr. Boyce Watkins Syracuse University author of What if George Bush were a Black Man

[E]xamines the steady growth of private, for-profit prison firms and the correctional-commercial complex that has developed tangentially with the private prison industry. The book details the strange bedfellows that have been brought together to expand this industry. Price underscores how these for-profit private prison companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges and the inimical impact of prisons being publicly traded. He debunks many of the claims as to why states seek prison privatization and demonstrates that incarceration is the new form of slavery....This work sets the record straight about the decision to privatize state prisons, revealing the political bias that often drives these policy choices. - National Union of Public and General Employees [U]nderscores how for-profit private prison companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges, and the inimical impact of prisons being publicly traded. - Houston Business Connections Monthly

[U]nderscores how for-profit private prison companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges, and the inimical impact of prisons being publicly traded. - Houston Business Connections Monthly [E]xamines the steady growth of private, for-profit prison firms and the correctional-commercial complex that has developed tangentially with the private prison industry. The book details the strange bedfellows that have been brought together to expand this industry. Price underscores how these for-profit private prison companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges and the inimical impact of prisons being publicly traded. He debunks many of the claims as to why states seek prison privatization and demonstrates that incarceration is the new form of slavery...This work sets the record straight about the decision to privatize state prisons, revealing the political bias that often drives these policy choices. - National Union of Public and General Employees

Author Information

Byron Eugene Price is Assistant Professor of Public Administration at Rutgers University, Newark. He is the Associate Director of the National Center for Public Productivity, Rutgers University, Newark, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, and Case Study Editor, Public Productivity and Management Review. Dr. Price has co-authored two book chapters on Mississippi politics, co-authored one book chapter on privatization, and contributed three entries to the Malcolm X Encyclopedia. He has published in the American Review of Public Administration, the International Review of Public Administration, Public Productivity and Management Review, and the PA Times.

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