TY - JOUR
T1 - Is Private Time Quality Time? A National Private-Public Comparison of Prison Quality
AU - Makarios, Matthew D.
AU - Maahs, Jeff
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - The prison privatization debate has thus far formed around both normative and empirical frameworks. Although not denying the importance of the debate over whether private prisons should exist, the fact that privatization has occurred necessitates empirical examination. We, therefore, use census of federal and state correctional facilities data to compare the quality of confinement across federal, state, and private prisons. After controlling for important institutional differences, we find that across many of the domains of quality, public and private prisons are similar. Public and private prisons did differ on some measures. Private prisons experienced less crowding than either state or federal prisons. Conversely, federal prisons scored higher on measures of activity (work, treatment, education) than privately run institutions.
AB - The prison privatization debate has thus far formed around both normative and empirical frameworks. Although not denying the importance of the debate over whether private prisons should exist, the fact that privatization has occurred necessitates empirical examination. We, therefore, use census of federal and state correctional facilities data to compare the quality of confinement across federal, state, and private prisons. After controlling for important institutional differences, we find that across many of the domains of quality, public and private prisons are similar. Public and private prisons did differ on some measures. Private prisons experienced less crowding than either state or federal prisons. Conversely, federal prisons scored higher on measures of activity (work, treatment, education) than privately run institutions.
KW - private
KW - quality of confinement
KW - state and federal prisons
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84864956565&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84864956565&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0032885512448608
DO - 10.1177/0032885512448608
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84864956565
SN - 0032-8855
VL - 92
SP - 336
EP - 357
JO - Prison Journal
JF - Prison Journal
IS - 3
ER -