ABSTRACT
The several bibliographies on the privatization of corrections are heavily weighted to articles and reports on the for-profit operation of public correctional facilities. The goals attendant to the privatization of corrections, no matter whether the focus is on prevention, deterrence, incarceration, or post-incarceration rehabilitation, are similar to save money, reduce capital expenditures, provide more effective and efficient services, and bypass the rigidity, slowness, and lack of responsiveness of public bureaucracies. The use of the private sector to provide correctional services, particularly those focused on rehabilitation, was given great impetus in the 1960s, in conjunction with the general expansion of human services programs under “The Great Society.” Those who hold a “minimalist” view of government’s functions would naturally be inclined to see any privatization as positive. Privatization refers to the assumption of responsibility of non-public sources for functions heretofore within the public domain.
