Helpful or Harmful? Theorizing Privatized Corrections: Findings from a Qualitative Study

Montes, Andrea N.; Morgan, Skyler

doi:10.1080/0735648x.2020.1820368

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Given the potential personal and financial costs of a violation report, individuals being sanctioned for misdemeanors or ordinance violations potentially face an increased likelihood of failure simply because of the nature of the supervision regime. The findings comport with others of this type that warn against the use of private correctional systems that introduce financial incentives that may undermine the primary goals of correctional and increase the potential negative outcomes for individuals under supervision (Harris, Smith, and Obara 2019;Montes and Morgan 2020).…”

Section: Hidden Cos Tssupporting

confidence: 77%

Private Probation Costs, Compliance, and the Proportionality of Punishment: Evidence from Georgia and Missouri

Huebner

Shannon

2022

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Probation is the most commonly imposed correctional sanction, is often accompanied by supplementary costs, and can be operated by the state or private companies. Private probation is a unique sanction used in lower courts, most often for misdemeanor offenses, and is managed by third-party actors. We focus on documenting the process and unique costs of private probation, including the rituals of compliance and proportionality of punishment. We use data from interviews with individuals on private probation and local criminal justice officials as well as evidence from court ethnographies in Georgia and Missouri. For individuals on private probation, payment of monetary sanctions is a crucial way of demonstrating compliance. Yet the financial burden of added costs for supervision and monitoring creates substantial challenges.

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Section: Hidden Cos Tssupporting

confidence: 77%

Private Probation Costs, Compliance, and the Proportionality of Punishment: Evidence from Georgia and Missouri

Huebner

Shannon

2022

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“…A primary argument made by proponents is that the private sector offers an alternative to government-run institutions that is well-suited to lower costs while maintaining quality (see, Austin & Coventry, 2001;Linowes et al, 1988;Logan, 1990). One line of thinking suggests that market forces will create competition among potential service providers that will in turn push the highest quality services to the top, giving low quality services little room for success (Linowes et al, 1988;Montes & Morgan, 2020;Mullen, 1985). Theoretical accounts also suggest that because the private sector experiences fewer bureaucratic constraints they will have the flexibility to experiment with and develop innovative approaches for supervising correctional populations (Montes & Morgan, 2020;Shichor & Sechrest, 1995).…”

Section: Contemporary Debates About Private Prisons and The Central I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, there have been almost no examinations of the mechanisms through which privatization might operate to improve quality but for less money, making it unclear whether the mechanisms that are, in theory, thought to enhance the quality of private services do so in practice. At least one qualitative study argues that potential mechanisms, such as market competition, are unlikely to be present in ways that influence quality (Montes & Morgan, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Private Versus Public Incarceration: Incarcerated Individuals’ Experiences and Perceptions of Environmental Quality

Montes

Cochran

Anderson

2022

Crime & Delinquency

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Propensity score matching and regression analyses of the National Inmate Survey are used to examine individuals’ experiences and perceptions of environmental quality in public versus private prisons across key domains of prison life, with an emphasis on needs, behaviors, victimization, and attitudes. No differences are identified for women. Males in private prisons are more likely than men in public prisons to perceive there to be inadequate staffing and are less likely to report maintaining ties with people outside of prison. Men in private prisons are also less likely to report crowding to be an issue. We discuss implications for evaluating a central tenet of privatization: that the quality of private prisons be comparable to, or better than, that of public prisons.

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Privatization as bureaucratization

Rivet

2024

Oñati Socio-Legal Series

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Contemporary prison privatization has been the focus of many studies. While most research mainly looks at political factors and practical results, few have explored the organizational impact of outsourcing. Despite privatization being often seen as a sign of liberalization and deregulation, this article uses the French prison privatization example to highlight the connection between privatization and bureaucratization. Based on observation and interviews, this study makes three claims. First, it argues that prison privatization is a changing relationship between public and private sectors, leading to controversy over private accountability. Second, it suggests that outsourcing contracts create a new layer of law with public compliance officers becoming a new form of legal oversight. Third, it shows how these controllers enforce contract terms in their own interest, resulting in an adversarial legal culture between public and private services. The article concludes by suggesting a fresh approach to studying privatization using qualitative methods.

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Helpful or Harmful? Theorizing Privatized Corrections: Findings from a Qualitative Study

Cited by 3 publications

References 58 publications

Private Probation Costs, Compliance, and the Proportionality of Punishment: Evidence from Georgia and Missouri

Private Probation Costs, Compliance, and the Proportionality of Punishment: Evidence from Georgia and Missouri

Private Versus Public Incarceration: Incarcerated Individuals’ Experiences and Perceptions of Environmental Quality

Privatization as bureaucratization

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