Privatizing Prisons: Rhetoric and Reality Book

The privatization of prisons is a highly topical and fiercely debated area of penal policy. Those in favour argue that privatization will improve the conditions and quality of regime for prisoners, reduce costs for the State and facilitate innovation. Those against believe there would be no means of ensuring accountability as to the treatment of prisoners and that it is the State's absolute and legitimate responsibility to punish those who break the law.Privatizing Prisons makes public, for the first time, a full account of the development of the privatization of prisons, centred on the only full-scale empirical study yet to have been undertaken in Britain. After providing an up-to-date overview of the development of private sector involvement in penal practice in the United Kingdom, North America, Europe and Australia, the authors go on to describe the first two years in the life of Wolds Remand Prison - the first private prison in Britain. They look at the daily life for remand prisoners, assess the duties and morale of staff and compare the workings of Wolds to a new local prison in the public sector. The authors conclude by discussing some of the practical and theoretical issues to have emerged from contracting out, ethical issues surrounding the whole privatization debate and implications for the future of the prison system and penal policy.Read More