Cost–benefit analysis and privatized corrections

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12443
• Date: 01 May 2019
• Published date: 01 May 2019
• Author: Travis C. Pratt

DOI: 10.1111/1745-9133.12443

RESEARCH ARTICLE

COST–BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Cost–benefit analysis and privatized corrections

Travis C. Pratt

University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute

Correspondence

TravisC. Pratt, University of Cincinnati Cor-

rectionsInstitute, University of Cincinnati.

Teachers/DyerHall, University of Cincinnati,

Cincinnati,OH 45221.

Email:pratttc@ucmail.uc.edu

Theaut hor wouldlike to thank Dan Mears and

JillTuranovic for their helpful comments on

earlierdrafts of t his article. Anything wrong

with it is clearlytheir fault.

Research Summary: Privatized corrections and cost–

benefit analyses have both been around for a long time

in American criminal justice policy and practice. Accord-

ingly, in this article, I review the cost–benefit literature

on correctional privatization with respect to three primary

issues: (1) what we know from the cost–benefit analyses

that have been conducted thus far regarding privatized cor-

rections, (2) the key gaps and challenges that should be

addressed if we are to truly understand the “social ledger”

associated with privatizing correctional services, and (3)

key lessons learned regarding the limited role that cost–

benefit analysis plays in policy discussions about punish-

ment policy.

Policy Implications: The primary implication for policy

is that, for the most part, what we know about the cost-

effectiveness of privatized corrections has been confined

to studies of private prisons. Alternatively, on balance, we

know little about the cost-effectiveness of privatized cor-

rections more generally. And even if rigorous cost–benefit

analyses did exist in larger quantities, they would still have

to face the strong ideological commitment that both propo-

nents and opponents of privatized corrections seem to hold.

KEYWORDS

corrections, cost–benefit analysis, privatization

1INTRODUCTION

Privatization and cost–benefit analyses haveboth been around for a long time in American corrections.1

The privatization of punishment, for example, dates at least back to the transportation of convicts to

North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which created a hotbed entrepreneurial spirit

Criminology & Public Policy. 2019;18:447–456. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/capp © 2019 American Society of Criminology 447