Private Prisons in Perspective: Some Conceptual Isues

Shichor, David

doi:10.1111/1468-2311.00079

Cited by 22 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Institutional confinement carries the costs of material restrictions and freedom restrictions as well as possible victimization or labeling (Smith and Paternoster, 1990). Similarly, longer durations of exposure to rehabilitative services of the juvenile system should reduce the chances of subsequent crime (Andrews et al, 1990;Lipsey, 1999;Lipsey and Wilson, 1998), with these effects more pronounced in situations where more offenders are placed in private, instead of public, institutions (Pratt and Maahs, 1999;Shichor, 1998). Overall, it is not clear whether these effects interact, but they certainly both point in the same direction of more time in institutional placement lowering subsequent criminal involvement.…”

Section: Conceptual Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating a Dose‐response Relationship Between Length of Stay and Future Recidivism in Serious Juvenile Offenders*

et al. 2009

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The effect of sanctions on subsequent criminal activity is of central theoretical importance in criminology. A key question for juvenile justice policy is the degree to which serious juvenile offenders respond to sanctions and/or treatment administered by the juvenile court. The policy question germane to this debate is finding the level of confinement within the juvenile justice system that maximizes the public safety and therapeutic benefits of institutional confinement. Unfortunately, research on this issue has been limited with regard to serious juvenile offenders. We use longitudinal data from a large sample of serious juvenile offenders from two large cities to 1) estimate a causal treatment effect of institutional placement, as opposed to probation, on future rate of rearrest and 2) investigate the existence of a marginal effect (i.e., benefit) for longer length of stay once the institutional placement decision had been made. We accomplish the latter by determining a doseresponse relationship between the length of stay and future rates of rearrest and self-reported offending. The results suggest that an overall null effect of placement exists on future rates of rearrest or self-reported offending for serious juvenile offenders. We also find that, for the group placed out of the community, it is apparent that little or no marginal benefit exists for longer lengths of stay. Theoretical, empirical, and policy issues are outlined. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptCriminology. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 January 4. Recent policies have narrowed the jurisdiction of juvenile court by removing the most serious offenders through various mechanisms, which include waiver, statutory exclusion, and lowering the age of majority (Fagan, 2008;Feld, 1998Feld, , 1999Griffin, 2003;Zimring, 1998). These changes have been occurring in an ongoing cycle for nearly three decades, capped by a frenzy in the 1990s, when virtually every state acted in some way to "toughen up" laws governing the processing of serious juvenile offenders. The removal of many serious offenders from juvenile court jurisdiction has raised basic questions about the viability of the juvenile court itself (Fagan, Kupchik, and Liberman, 2007). Given this political environment, demonstrating the effectiveness of the juvenile courts' treatment and confinement practices is essential for informed debate about future juvenile justice policy.It is important to understand what prompted all this change in the first place. In reaction to increases in rates of youth violence in the 1980s (Blumstein and Wallman, 2000), both policy makers and the public lost confidence in the capacity of the juvenile court to fulfill its mission of effectively treating and/or deterring serious juvenile offenders from committing future crimes (Moon, Cullen, and Wright, 2003). Zimring (1998) suggests that the perception of leniency led to a related perception of increased public safety risks. Perceived short stays in juvenile facilities also offended the popular and...

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Section: Conceptual Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating a Dose‐response Relationship Between Length of Stay and Future Recidivism in Serious Juvenile Offenders*

et al. 2009

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“…This is a large increase, considering that in 1995 there were approximately 5200 people who worked in private corrections with approximately 3100 of those working in custody (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2003: vi). Additionally, private prisons can be found in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and other countries (Lanza-Kaduce et al 1999;Shichor 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of the written material to date has been written to provide justification for or against the use of private prisons" (p. 27). The literature has discussed the theoretical, ethical, and legal issues surrounding private prisons (Feeley 2002;Harding 1997;Lippke 1997;Reisig and Pratt 2000;Shichor 1998), their cost effectiveness and quality (Logan 1996;Perrone and Pratt 2003;Pratt and Maahs 1999;Schneider 1999), their recidivism rates compared to public prisons LanzaKaduce et al 1999), and even whether there is a difference in death rates (Biles and Dalton 2001;Camp and Gaes 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Job Characteristics on Private Prison Staff: Why Management Should Care

et al. 2009

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The number of private prisons run by corporate security businesses has increased rapidly throughout the past two decades. There has been a parallel increase in literature, both pro and con, comparing the efficiency and effectiveness of private and public prisons; however, private prison staff has been largely ignored. OLS regression analysis of a survey of 160 employees at a Midwestern private prison facility showed that the job characteristics of job stress, supervision, and job variety were far more important than personal characteristics of race/ethnicity, gender, age, tenure, education and position in influencing staff job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Specifically, job stress had the largest impact on job satisfaction, while quality of supervision had the greatest impact on organizational commitment.

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“…Considerable controversy exists in the public policy discourse as to the efficacy, cost savings, and ethics of privatizing prison services (Culp, 2005;Genders, 2002;Shichor, 1998). Though much of that debate is beyond the scope of this article, one area of potential cost savings that is often examined involves comparing how well public and private detention facilities meet the health-care needs of detainees (Lundahl et al, 2009;Thomas, 2005).…”

Section: Privatization Of Correctional Facilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Correctional Settings

Linder

Meyers

2009

Journal of Social Work in End-Of-Life & Palliative Care

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The prison population in the United States has grown fivefold in the last 27 years. Like the general population, the inmate population is aging. With age comes infirmity, disability, and chronic conditions that may, over the course of years or decades, lead to death. Inmates enter the prison system in poorer health than their age-matched free counterparts. A growing number of inmates will die in prison. A few will receive medical or compassionate release in order to die ''outside the walls.'' Whether inside or outside, these dying men and women are entitled to receive high quality health care, including palliative care.

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Private Prisons in Perspective: Some Conceptual Isues

Cited by 22 publications

References 15 publications

Estimating a Dose‐response Relationship Between Length of Stay and Future Recidivism in Serious Juvenile Offenders*

Estimating a Dose‐response Relationship Between Length of Stay and Future Recidivism in Serious Juvenile Offenders*

The Impact of Job Characteristics on Private Prison Staff: Why Management Should Care

Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Correctional Settings

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