Prison Privatization: A Multi-State Comparison Content Analysis

Abstract

This thesis project measured the effectiveness of prison privatization at a multi-state level. A content analysis of existing data on a convenience sample of seven states that have a large percentage of their prisons privatized: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Texas, and Oklahoma was compared to seven non-or-low privatized states that do not have a large percentage of their prisons privatized: Louisiana, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, Maryland, and Illinois. A convenience sample was taken of public and private states on available data supplied by the Bureau of Justice Statistics which was used to ascertain differentiating factors on both the public and private levels. There are three factors that led states in this project to privatize its prison system. Results indicate that most states have made the decision to privatize for three reasons: lower cost; to reduce over-crowdedness, and consent decree. Several states have enacted laws that mandate either some sort of cost savings through privatization or simply an increase in quality standards by the private vendor operating the institution. In examining the cost per inmate among all fourteen states, it appears that the low-to-non privatized states spend the least amount of money per inmate to house its prisoners. In addition, many states have specific positions within their departments that monitor and maintain privatization standards. Monitoring privatization consisted of on-site monitoring, facility inspections and the oversight and monitoring of contracts. As private prisons are studied in the future, researchers should take a regional look at other aspects affecting privatization such as recidivism, turnover, and number of escapes.