Vol. 4 No. 3 (March, 1994) pp. 50-53
PRIVATIZING CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS by Gary W. Bowman, Simon
Hakim and Paul Siedenstat (Editors), New Brunswick: Transaction
Publishers, 1993. 246 pp. Cloth $34.95.
Reviewed by Stefan J. Kapsch, Department of Political Science,
Reed College, and former Executive Director, Oregon Prison
Overcrowding Project.
PRIVATIZING CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS is a collection of 16
essays edited by three economists. The twenty authors include
former Chief Justice Warren Burger (in a brief Forward), plus
several academics (mostly in criminal justice programs), one
reporter, several vendors and consultants, and three corrections
professionals outside of the academy. In the end, this curious
mix does not work well, seriously limiting the usefulness of the
volume.
Privatization and corrections policy are both topics of immense
importance, so much so that they are familiar to nearly everyone
who is in any way attentive to public affairs in the eighties and
the nineties. They are policy areas that deserve the most serious
examination that can be brought to bear.
Privatization has been around for a long time in corrections in
the form of contracting for services, particularly in parole,
probation and community corrections for such services as job
training, and drug and alcohol treatment. What is relatively new,
and very important, are the ideas of private organizations
building and/or managing correctional institutions themselves,
especially prisons with high levels of security and custody,
which house serious offenders over long terms. It takes both
actual and potential use of force and violence to do this, since
obviously few people agree to it voluntarily. Because of this,
imprisonment per se as an exclusive state function has usually
been considered proper because of the state's monopoly on the
legitimate use of force and violence, and the need for strict
accountability in its use. Even then the familiar scandals
involving misuse of force or substandard conditions demonstrate
the difficulty of monitoring this kind of control when it occurs
behind walls and out of plain view.
This book is neither an original contribution to the literature
on privatization, nor is it a textbook or supplement for
classroom use. It would be of greatest interest to policy-makers
who need an overview of issues in privatization, but one which as
a theme, pretty much accepts privatization as a goal and
concentrates on overcoming the obstacles. In the introduction,
for example, the editors form the basis for the essays in the
rest of the book in terms of the "six stages" of
privatization: (1) the decision whether to privatize, (2)
establishment of goals, (3) organization of the system (4)
analysis of the legal/liability issues (5) preparation of the RFP
and (6) evaluation and control.(p. 3 ff) Note the absence here of
"termination" as a potential part of the process, and
the implicit acceptance of privatization, even though there are
skeptical essays among those which follow.
The introductory essay fails to do what introductory essays ought
to do -- encourage the reader to continue on. In fact, the
concluding essay in the volume makes a much better introduction
and would be a good place to start, skipping the true
introduction altogether. In the introduction, the editors
acknowledge the scope of the correctional policy crisis in
familiar terms (something which is repeated in subsequent essays
and becomes tedious). It also notes early on that not all efforts
to privatize correctional institutions have been successful, but
success and praise for privatization is the overwhelming theme of
the introduction as well as the book in general, exceptions
notwithstanding. Failure, the editors suggest, occurs when the
principal reason for privatization seems to have been to
stimulate employment and where financial arrangements were
questionable. (p. 3) In other words, the explanation for failure
is limited to situations when privatization occurred for the
wrong reasons and when neither the governments involved nor the
vendors knew what they were doing or how to do it; in the latter
case (vendors) because they are small and inexperienced -- the
general "infant industry" argument. The prognosis with
the [new]
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"...well-established capital-endowed companies...." can
be expected to be much better because of advantages such as
greater experience, economies of scale. (p.3). Two things are
immediately notable from this. One is that this is as much a
how-to-do-it manual as anything, and it certainly not an
"analysis" in any sense of that term. Thus, the
presence of consultants and vendors among the authors is not
surprising, nor is it necessarily out of place, at least not once
one understands that this is a book that pretty much takes
privatization for granted. To be sure, there are skeptics among
the contributors, but that is not the theme; the skeptics seem to
be there for balance as much as anything. Second is that all of
this is readily apparent in the discussion in the introduction of
each of the six stages . For example, the discussion of the
"decision whether to privatize" is one short paragraph,
and all of it is on how to calculate the costs (presumably so
that one does not bid unrealistically). (p. 3). There is no
mention of any of the objectives in making this decision, or of
any other outcome one might expect from correctional institutions
as a matter of "good government."
The section in the Introduction on "establishment of
goals" is written in terms of making sure the RFP is
properly framed, including a warning to avoid unnecessary
"red tape." (p. 3-4). Ditto for other very brief
comments on each of the other six. This is even further
emphasized in a much longer section on "Cost Considerations
in Construction and Operation of Detention Facilities" which
runs over bonding vs. borrowing, construction costs, etc. but
uncritically and not in any detail. (p. 5-8) What makes this
section curious is that the editors obviously take the success of
privatization either for granted, or on thin grounds. For
example, the discussion of cost comparisons of public and private
facilities is based on one published study of a single
institution in Tennessee; and this from a staff report of the
National Institute of Justice published during the Reagan/Bush
years when NIJ's stature for objectivity slipped. (p. 7-8). Other
cited comparative cost data is directly from the operator of a
privately managed facility in Kentucky. (p.8) Ultimately, these
conclusions may prove to be correct, but such a huge
generalization on such a limited basis? Other essays in this
volume cite the same study, but they are usually far more
cautious about their conclusions. Similarly, the editors
implicitly dismiss concerns of critics of privatization
concluding that the apparent success of privatization
"appears" to have been done "without cutting
corners", but without citing any studies or evidence at all
to support that massive generalization, not even another of the
essays in the volume. (p. 8)
Deserving of special mention is a section in the Introduction on
"Issues in Privatization," where the authors discuss
the "myth" that private companies are restrained in the
use of deadly force arguing that this is true only outside the
institution; but then the escapees become the responsibility of
the state. (p. 9) Inside the institution, private providers can
use deadly force, but the essential questions about how and with
what safeguards are not mentioned. They conclude with an
absolutely astounding response to concerns about labor relations.
(p.9) After blithely (and without citation) stating that
"many private providers...hired the public employees, raised
their pay and provided better fringe benefits...." they
assert that should there nevertheless be an employee strike or
other emergency." ..the state can send the National Guard to
assist." (p. 9) It is difficult to adequately characterize
the irresponsibility and lack of any real appreciation for the
nature of prisons, or concern for the safety and well-being of
the people who work and live there, in suggesting the use of
military force as a solution to labor problems in the context of
correctional institutions.
Nonetheless, the first of contributor essays (by Warren Cikens)
appeals for consideration of privatization and shows proper
caution not just for the mechanics of getting it done, but for
the serious issues of principle and policy. The historical essays
by Robert McCrie and Alex Durham are overly redundant but
worthwhile. One would have been adequate and Durham's is,
perhaps, more comprehensive. Dana Joel's essay on privatization
of "secure adult prisons" is another general review of
problems which curiously has
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nothing apparent to do with secure institutions, contrary to the
essay's title.
Michael Janus is a warden and writes from that point of view.
After the obligatory review of the importance of the subject at
hand, Janus has a sophisticated and thoughtful series of sections
starting with "The Importance of Symbolism in Criminal
Justice" raising issues that should have been in the
introduction, including the impact on corrections overall and on
the criminal justice system, as well as the generation of a whole
new set of potentially powerful lobbyists (the private vendors
themselves) who can be expected to wield enormous political power
and therefore shape public policy.
Barbara Auerbach's essay on the involvement of the federal
government in prison industries is, indeed, on efforts by the
federal government to assist prison industries and therefore
hopefully achieve laudable goals such as job training,
development of self esteem, support for families, etc. One of the
major political debates in the field (including the public
debate) is the inordinate influence those federal dollars have in
shaping and controlling state policy, but these fundamental
issues of federalism are not mentioned. It is no accident that
the cynical joke "I'm from the federal government and I'm
here to help you" has enjoyed sustained popularity for a
long time. An essay follows on a specific example of prison
industries, written by a vendor who not surprisingly starts out
with the assertion that "The key ingredient in the future
success of prison industries will be the involvement of the
private sector and the use of business principles." (p.103).
The essay reads much like what one would expect at an industry
workshop presentation.
Another essay titled "The Public-Private Partnership: A
Challenge and an Opportunity for Corrections" covers the
same ground as many of the previous ones, causing one to wonder
how many ways there are to summarize the basics of prison
crowding, crisis and the need to do something. This essay adds
that cooperation between government and private concerns would be
a very good idea, and that the private vendors have contributed
to the problems of mistrust of privatization by trying to
supplant, rather than complement, what the government does.
An essay by a Corrections Corporation of America, Inc. legal
officer on the liability issues in private management concludes
by saying "It seems easy to say that liability for all
parties can be minimized by a simple document." [i.e., a
contract] (p. 136). Indeed, but that is basically what the essay
covers. The following essay by Harold Sullivan on constitutional
issues on prisoners' rights in privatization is well-done,
worthwhile and less sanguine about privatization although that is
not why it is well-done and worthwhile. It provides a
comprehensive and balanced review of court decisions and issues,
just what a volume like this needs.
Another vendor-authored article titled "Proving
Privatization Works" provides plenty of argument and
opinion, but no proof. Todd Mason (a journalist) writes about
private jails anecdotally and very skeptically, appropriately
warning communities to think carefully before they act. A
comparison of two states' experience by the Urban Institute
(Chapter 15) is based on a straightforward evaluation design and
while it basically presents findings, there is a good deal of
data presented and therefore an opportunity to dig deeper.
As a book primarily of interest to decision-makers, what should
the busy public official do? The final essay by Charles Thomas
and Charles Logan titled "The Development, Present Status,
and Future Potential of Correctional Privatization in
America" would be an excellent start. It does what it says
it will do, does it well and since the first part is historical
it eliminates (or greatly reduces) the need to read other essays
in this volume. Janus' essay "Bars on the Iron
Triangle;..." should also be read for its theoretical and
political awareness, and perhaps the Todd Mason piece "For
Profit Jails: A Risky Business" as a warning of the kind
that the reader is unlikely to see elsewhere. The Sullivan essay
on prisoners' rights is fine but the rest of the book should be
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assigned to a staff member to summarize in a couple of pages.