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The origins of the private management of prisons can be found in the United States in the early 1980s when contracting was used in response to the growing problem of overcrowding and poor conditions. Australia was the first overseas country to follow the American example, followed by the United Kingdom. In each of the jurisdictions, private sector involvement included the provision of front-line custodial services.

From the 1990s, a number of other countries have followed, using different models for engaging the private sector in the design, construction and operation of support and front-line services.

This section of the Resource Centre lists sources that provide historical context to the current market for privately managed prisons.

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List of Resources:
 
Texas Gulag: The Chain Gang Years, 1875-1925
Brown, Gary , 2002
Plano: Republic of Texas Press
USA
 

Jeremy Bentham: The Panopticon Writings
Bozovic, Miran , 1995
London: Verso
Bentham's proposal for a contract prison
UK
 

Response to the Committee of Public Accounts Press Notice: H.M.P. Wolds
Group 4 Securitas (International), 1995
Press Release
UK
 

Bentham's Prison: A Study of the Panopticon Penitentiary
Semple, Janet, 1993
Oxford: Claredon Press
Bentham's proposal for a contract prison on the Thames in the late eighteenth century
UK
 

UK Detention Contractors: First Design & Build Prison Contract A Resounding Success
UK Contractors, 1992
Press Release: UKDC01/02 -  covering Contractors John Mowlem and Sir Robert McAlpine in their first joint venture in constructing Britain's first, privately designed and built prison at Everthorpe, Brough, North Humberside.
UK
 

First Free Enterprise Prison Built in Record Time
PSA Projects, 1992
Press Release by PSA Project Press Office reporting on the Construction of Wolds Remand Prison, at Brough, North Humberside
UK
 

Court Escorts, Custody & Security: A discussion paper
The Home Office, 1990
The paper sets out and invites comment on the government's plans to reorganise and make subject to competitive tendering the arrangement for escorting prisoners to and from court.
ISBN 0 86252 494 6
UK
 

Report to the Home Office on the Practicality of Private Sector Involvement in the Remand System
Deloitte Haskins and Sells, 1989
A report prepared for the UK Government investigating whether private involvement in prisons could meet the criteria of clear accountability, improved cost-effectiveness and operational practicality.
UK
 

Private Sector Involvement in the Remand System
The Home Office, 1988
The Stationery Office
UK
 

Contract Provision of Prisons
The Home Affairs Committee, 1987
Her Majesty's Stationery Office
House of Commons Fourth Report - Session 1986-87
UK
 

Privatizing Prison: The Moral Case
Logan, Charles H, 1987
Adam Smith Institute
ISBN 1 -870109-06-6
UK
 

Prison
Croft, John, C.B.E., 1987
Conservative Study Group on Crime
This report sets out the challenges faced by the prison service and suggests that privatisation can be used as a way of dealing with them more efficiently and imaginatively.
UK
 

English Prisons Under Local Government
Webb, Sidney and Beatrice, 1922
London: Longmans Green & Co
Deals with eighteenth century prison contracting models
UK
 

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  Last Updated: 30 January 2009