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Current status of prison privatization research on American prisons and jails
Author(s) -
Gaes Gerald G.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
criminology and public policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.6
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1745-9133
pISSN - 1538-6473
DOI - 10.1111/1745-9133.12428
Subject(s) - prison , counterfactual thinking , accountability , recidivism , private sector , population , quality (philosophy) , business , public sector , assertion , private sector involvement , public economics , economics , political science , criminology , economic growth , law , psychology , medicine , environmental health , social psychology , philosophy , epistemology , computer science , programming language
Research Summary Private companies manage 8.4% of the U.S. prison population and 5.4% of the jail population. On average, the costs and quality of privatized facilities seem to be about the same as publicly operated prisons, but the lack of high‐quality studies limits a strong inference. Although states with increases in prison privatization have lower public‐sector costs, this may be a result of strong cost controls, not of their level of privatization. An increase in recidivism seems to occur for people placed in private facilities. This assertion is based on the findings of several studies in which regression controls are used and on only one study in which a strong counterfactual design is applied. Finally, there is no evidence that prison privatization was responsible for the dramatic growth in incarceration that peaked in 2009. Policy Implications Because many jurisdictions will continue to use privately operated facilities, it is incumbent on them to create monitoring mechanisms to ensure high‐quality services and efficient use of resources. In this article, I suggest many ways in which research findings can contribute to a better assessment of prison and jail performance promoting accountability for both the private and the public sector.