Research Summary
In this historical review of prison privatization, we identify interconnected events in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom and their distinctiveness from other nations. The political and economic catalysts for the post‐1980 reemergence of privatization are also analyzed. Privatization exists on a continuum from ancillary service delivery to full custodial operations and management. As privatization seems to have lost some of its momentum, it is unclear whether its advent has produced the intended system‐wide improvements.
Policy Implications
Modern privatization spawned an enormous amount of research in which a comparison of the private and public sectors was attempted. Despite the plethora of research, the findings are mainly inconclusive. Policy makers should focus on privatization as a subset of mainstream prisons research, with investigation of system‐wide key issues like confinement quality, preparation for release, and accountability. These matters bear, in turn, on outcomes such as reduced recidivism and the ability to lead a useful life postrelease.
Australia's criminal justice system comprises nine separate approaches – a federal system, six state government systems, and two territory systems. The following describes the characteristics of custodial and community corrections in each Australian jurisdiction. The entry details federal and state approaches to custodial corrections followed by a brief review of community corrections. Also included are the numbers in prison and on community corrections in each jurisdiction. The entry concludes by identifying trends in Australian corrections.
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