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