of safety for both prisoners and prison staff. Governmental jurisdictions at all levels, thus, must find ways to increase prison and jail capacity.
One approach to the solution of prison capacity that is being adopted by some jurisdictions is the privatization of corrections (Sechrest & Shichor, 1993, pp. 3-8). The privatization approach is being promoted to an increasing number of jurisdictions as the wave of the future in corrections. Not all people, however, are supportive of the prison privatization concept (Munster, 1993, pp. 91-93).
This study examines the concept of prison privatization with a view toward assessing the acceptability of the concept for widespread application in the United States. Privatization of public services may be effected through a number of different approaches. Thus, alternatives other than the operation of private prisons are considered in this study. Further, the concept of prison privatization must be assessed within the context of the
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