Deck 12: Private-Sector Systems

Question 1

What is the main reason for the growth in the need for more community corrections?

A) Overcrowded jails and prisons
B) Economic recession
C) Lack of federal attention to crime
D) Increased crime in suburban areas

Answer 1

Overcrowded jails and prisons

Question 2

What is the main advantage of private service providers?

A) They are more cost effective.
B) They are more humane.
C) They can expand and contract quickly when needs change.
D) They are able to offer more rehabilitation services to inmates.

Answer 2

They can expand and contract quickly when needs change.

Question 3

To protect themselves from liability, most government agencies, including prison systems,

A) are self-insured.
B) are covered by external insurers.
C) are legally exempt from being the target of litigation.
D) are publicly insured.

Answer 3

are self-insured.

Question 4

Private sector involvement in corrections is most controversial in the area of

A) providing food and medical care to public facilities.
B) providing training to public agencies and facilities.
C) managing high-security jails.
D) operating halfway houses and secure juvenile residential programs.

Question 5

Prior to the 1930s, states could profit through private involvement in corrections by

A) paying private companies to operate prisons.
B) leasing out prison populations to private bidders.
C) building factories inside prisons.
D) collaborating with free-world labor to increase production.

Question 6

Prior to the 1930s, about what percentage of inmates died annually under contract arrangements?

A) 10 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 50 percent

Question 7

________ refers to the provision of correctional services by private-sector purveyors.

A) Cherry picking
B) Contract leasing
C) Privatization
D) Rainmaker

Question 8

Which of the following is not an option for direct private-sector involvement in corrections that was created by the development of intermediate sanctions?

A) Treatment programs
B) Technologies for surveillance
C) Supervised release
D) Supermax facilities

Question 9

Which of the following is not a program philosophy on which private-sector treatment programs may be based?

A) Strict military-like discipline
B) Religious beliefs
C) Rainmaking
D) Rugged individualism and self-reliance

Question 10

The most important segment in private for-profit corrections contractors is

A) providing non-custodial treatment programs.
B) providing low-security custody programs.
C) using technologies for the surveillance of non-incarcerated offenders.
D) developing industrial activities within state-run facilities.

Question 11

States particularly have come to rely on public contractors to provide low-security custodial facilities to house

A) juveniles.
B) women.
C) non-dangerous recidivists.
D) first-time offenders.

Question 12

In which of the following areas is private sector involvement increasing?

A) High-security facilities for juvenile offenders
B) High-security facilities for adult offenders
C) Community corrections
D) Facilities for female offenders

Question 13

The expanded use of cheap and reliable drug tests has contributed to an increase in

A) the number of probation and parole violators.
B) the availability of cheap drugs.
C) the use of electronic monitoring.
D) the use of halfway houses.

Question 14

Which of the following offenders would not be housed in a privately operated prison?

A) State inmates
B) Inmates detained pre-trial
C) Federal inmates
D) Inmates for the U.S. Marshal's Service

Question 15

Wackenhut Correction is currently known as

A) the GEO Group.
B) Corrections Corporation of America.
C) Management and Training Corporation.
D) U.S. Corrections Corporation.

Question 16

In which decade did privatization of correctional facilities begin in the United States?

A) The 1960s
B) The 1970s
C) The 1980s
D) The 1990s

Question 17

Which of the following is not a claim made by private-sector providers?

A) Private-sector providers can do the same tasks at less cost to the state.
B) Private-sector providers are more effective than state providers.
C) Private-sector providers can reduce corruption.
D) Private-sector providers can service offenders at all levels of security.

Question 18

A ________ is a powerful politician within a government jurisdiction that has enough influence to secure the approval of a private-sector proposal.

A) hot-button
B) rainmaker
C) gatekeeper
D) cherry-picker

Question 19

Guaranteed occupancy contracts with private sector providers may lead to

A) private-sector providers being forced to accept all inmates regardless of their ability to provide appropriate services.
B) increased levels of violence in private-sector facilities when compared to state-run facilities.
C) the government paying for empty beds if the crime rate or detention rate drops.
D) reduce staff turnover in private-sector prisons.

Question 20

Which of the following is not a controversy surrounding private-sector prison providers?

A) Private-sector prisons have extremely high staff turnover rates.
B) Private-sector prisons cut costs by cutting rehabilitation programs.
C) Private-sector prisons encourage public-sector corruption through kickbacks.
D) Private-sector prisons cannot safely service maximum-security offenders.

Question 21

In which area do public-sector facilities outperform private prisons?

A) Providing secure custody
B) Providing effective rehabilitation programming
C) Serving illegal immigrants
D) Managing low-security custodial facilities

Question 22

Which of the following is considered a "hot-button" item for both adult and juvenile inmates?

A) Food
B) Recreational programming
C) Religious services
D) Contraband

Question 23

A ________ is a criminal justice professional who determines access to services, detention, or confinement facilities.

A) hot-button
B) rainmaker
C) gatekeeper
D) cherry-picker

Question 24

Private-sector involvement in corrections is a new concept in the United States.

Question 25

Private-sector involvement in community corrections is increasing.

Question 26

Private-sector providers can more easily adapt to changing needs than public correctional facilities.

Question 27

Prior to the Civil War, it was cheaper for contractors to lease inmates than to use slaves.

Question 28

The operation of secure correctional facilities provides the greatest area of potential growth opportunity for private contractors.

Question 29

Of those offenders handled by private-sector programs, more are participating in noncustodial programs than are housed in privately managed secure prisons or jails.

Question 30

Currently, the most important segment in the business of for-profit private corrections is the development of medium- and high-security custody programs.

Question 31

The juvenile justice system is particularly reliant on private contractors to provide low-security custodial facilities.

Question 32

The growth of private-sector involvement in community corrections has produced a net-widening effect.

Question 33

Maximum-security facilities have not yet been privatized.

Question 34

Private sector providers claim they can service offenders at all security levels.

Question 35

Most cost studies have found that private prison providers have produced cost-savings for those jurisdictions contracting with them.

Question 36

Guaranteed occupancy can penalize the public jurisdiction if the crime rate decreases.

Question 37

State-run prisons tend to have lower rates of staff turnover than private facilities.

Question 38

Private-sector institutions have lower rates of recidivism than public-sector facilities.

Question 39

Cutting back on food service and quality can lead to major disturbances in correctional facilities.

Question 40

Gatekeepers are powerful politicians within a government jurisdiction that have enough influence to secure the approval of a private-sector proposal.

Question 41

The use of kickbacks is an example of corruption.

Question 42

Prior to the 1930s, states made a profit by ________ inmates to private contractors.

Question 43

The ________ conditions in which inmates were kept by private contractors prior to the 1930s led to high rates of inmate deaths.

Question 44

________ involves the provision of correctional services by private-sector purveyors.

Question 45

One of the main potential growth areas of private contractors involves technologies for ________ of non-incarcerated offenders.

Question 46

An important recent development in corrections has been the growth of ________-security custodial facilities.

Question 47

The ________ justice system has particularly come to rely on private contractors to provide low-security custodial facilities.

Question 48

The expansion of services provided by private-sector involvement has led to a(n) ________ effect by reaching clients that normally would not have been served.

Question 49

Privatization efforts cast the ________ as the entity that establishes public priorities.

Question 50

The first state-level contract for a secure facility was awarded to the ________ Corporation of America.

Question 51

________ are powerful politicians that have enough influence to secure the approval of private-sector company contracts.

Question 52

Private corporations have contracted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain ________ immigrants.

Question 53

Guaranteed occupancy has been compared to a(n) ________ tax for the state.

Question 54

Research suggests that ________ is best achieved in public-sector rather than private institutions.

Question 55

Evaluations of rehabilitation have found higher levels of recidivism among inmates in ________-sector facilities.

Question 56

A key hot-button item for most inmates is ________.

Question 57

Giving a judge a kickback in exchange for sentencing inmates to a particular private-sector program or facility is a form of ________.

Question 58

Match the term with its meaning .

-Slaves of the master

A) Compelling inmates to obey correctional managers and their staff
B) Allowing private contractors to pay a flat fee to use inmates as laborers
C) A criminal justice professional who determines access to services or facilities
D) A politician with enough influence to secure the approval of a private-sector proposal
E) Allowing the private sector to provide services

Question 59

Match the term with its meaning .

-Convict leasing

A) Compelling inmates to obey correctional managers and their staff
B) Allowing private contractors to pay a flat fee to use inmates as laborers
C) A criminal justice professional who determines access to services or facilities
D) A politician with enough influence to secure the approval of a private-sector proposal
E) Allowing the private sector to provide services

Question 60

Match the term with its meaning .

-Privatization

A) Compelling inmates to obey correctional managers and their staff
B) Allowing private contractors to pay a flat fee to use inmates as laborers
C) A criminal justice professional who determines access to services or facilities
D) A politician with enough influence to secure the approval of a private-sector proposal
E) Allowing the private sector to provide services

Question 61

Match the term with its meaning .

-Rainmaker

A) Compelling inmates to obey correctional managers and their staff
B) Allowing private contractors to pay a flat fee to use inmates as laborers
C) A criminal justice professional who determines access to services or facilities
D) A politician with enough influence to secure the approval of a private-sector proposal
E) Allowing the private sector to provide services

Question 62

Match the term with its meaning .

-Gatekeeper

A) Compelling inmates to obey correctional managers and their staff
B) Allowing private contractors to pay a flat fee to use inmates as laborers
C) A criminal justice professional who determines access to services or facilities
D) A politician with enough influence to secure the approval of a private-sector proposal
E) Allowing the private sector to provide services

Question 63

What is the main advantage of private service providers and why is this important?

Question 64

The juvenile justice system in particular has come to rely on private contractors to provide low-security custodial facilities. What impact has this had on juvenile justice?

Question 65

What are the main arguments in favor of using private-sector providers of correctional services?

Question 66

What problems do high-staff turnover create for private-sector facilities?

Question 67

Historically, from 1870-1930 many inmates were contracted as laborers. The suffering of inmates under "chain gang"
treatment has been well documented and is common knowledge. Discuss how these events, and the residual feelings and sentiments about convict leasing affects the arguments about privatization of corrections.

Question 68

You are a high-level correctional administrator in your state's department of corrections. The governor of your state has called a meeting with you and other correctional administrators to discuss contracting out some of your state-run prisons to the private-sector. You are asked to give your educated and professional opinion on the matter. What do you tell the governor, and what evidence do you use to back up your opinion?