Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the meaning of the term privatisation, its origins and development in the United States and the United Kingdom, the philosophical and economic background to this and the policy issues surrounding its implementation. It provides the meaning of the term privatisation, its origins and development in the United States and the United Kingdom, the philosophical and economic background to this and the policy issues surrounding its implementation. The chapter reviews the range of attitudes surrounding the policy implications of privatisation within the criminal justice system. It provides a review of the most current literature on the provision of private psychiatric care in the United States and the United Kingdom. The chapter discusses the advent of independent medium secure psychiatric care and considers how this sort of provision fits into the national picture of medium secure psych atric care.