ABSTRACT
The literature on private prisons and its controversies is voluminous. A range of limiting data access factors makes absolute claims as to the efficiency or cost-effectiveness of one sector over the other nearly impossible. This chapter summarizes factors that have influenced the global introduction of private prisons as well as limiting factors in their growth. It reviews the development of private sector-driven efficiency research, focusing on the USA and the UK, as the majority of efficiency research has been conducted in these countries. Driven by the profit motive, private prisons appeared to offer a service delivery that improved on the previous 200 years of custodial operations. It was proposed that private sector efficiency, achieved through public—private partnership, or private finance initiatives, would provide the model on which to reform the public sector. Despite international variations in models of privatization, the overarching goal of private prisons was to invoke service delivery reform.
