PRISON PRIVATIZATION: International Experience and Russian Perspectives

1
PRISON PRIVATIZATIONInternational Experience
and Russian Perspectives

• Anna Smorgunova
• PhD, Russian State Pedagogical University of
  Herzen

2
Introduction

• History of crime control policy history of
  transfer of ideas, institutes and practices
• Public policy is influenced by globalization, but
  there are cultural differences that shape
  policies within each country
• Privatization of prisons is a powerful strategy
  that has traveled abroad and won over penal
  policy markets all over the world
• Are private prisons possible in Russia?

3
Main issues

• How the institute of private prisons emerged?
• Types of privatization
• Advantages and disadvantages of private prisons
  from (in)dependent research
• What factors shaped privatization?
• War on crime strategy and penal crisis
• Neoliberal ideology
• Prison-industrial complex
• Perspectives of prison privatization in Russian
  penal system

4
Theoretical background

• The notion of policy transfer (Newburn and
  Jones, 2005)
• What types of policies are most likely to be
  transferred and get support from local public and
  practitioners?
• How are they transferred (the case of US and UK)?
• The notion of penal system and their
  classification (Cavadino and Dignan, 2002, 2006)
• Types of policies emerging and prevailing in
  different penal systems?
• What types of penal systems are particularly
  prone to policy transfer?

5
Theoretical background (cont.)

• War on crime as an industry and policy
  transformations in the weak states (N.Christie)
• The notion of prison-industrial complex
• Strict crime control as a function of a weak
  state
• Culture of control (D.Garland, 2001)
• 12 specific features of modern crime control in
  high crime societies

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Prison Privatization History

• Before 1980ies limited use in US (except prison
  labor)
• 1976 Weaversville Intensive Treatment Unit
  1st contract for management of a secure
  institution
• 1985 1st state-level contract (Kentucky)
• 1983 Detention center for Naturalization and
  Immigration Center in Texas 1st federal-level
  contract
• Today 33 states have contracts, 158 institutions
  are private, 7 of all prisoners are in private
  facilities (107000 people)
• Transfer to UK 1992 - 1st contract (Walds
  prison)
• Today 11 private prisons in UK, 10 of all
  prisoners are in private facilities
• Australia 1990 (Correctional Centre at
  Borallon) 17 of all prisoners are in private
  facilities
• Privatization in France (semi-private prisons),
  Germany, Chile, Japan, discussions in Bulgaria,
  Hong Kong, Brazil, Latvia, etc. (Prison
  Privatization Report International)

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Types of prison privatization

• At least 10 types including
• Contracting out specific services (catering,
  medical, transportation, rehabilitation)
• Contracting out prison construction
• Contracting out prison management
• Asset sale state prison is sold to the private
  company followed by per diem payments from the
  state
• Prison is built and managed by private company
  and leased to the state
• Institutions that are privatized detention
  centers, facilities for juveniles and adults, all
  security types institutions, prisons and jails
• Federal, state and local contracts

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Advantages

• Enhances competition, therefore allows to get
  better value for less money
• Cost saving for construction (up to 30)
• Cost saving for management (up to 20)
• Reduced construction period (12-24 months in
  comparison with 24-48 in public sector)
• Better service delivery
• Diverse rehabilitation, education and medical
  treatment programs
• Stimulation of devastated regions jobs for the
  community

9
Disadvantages

• Cost reduction and better performance are in
  question
• Less training for prison personnel
• More cases of drug abuse
• Lower level of security more escapes and
  disorder
• Abuse of prisoners rights
• General question of propriety of private
  provision in the penal sector
• Catch 22 (the problem with the solution)

10
War on Crime and Law and Order Ideology

• Law and Order rhetoric emerges in 1960ies
  (elections of 1968),
• Criticism of penal welfarism and liberal
  approach to crime control
• In the area of criminology popularity of social
  control theories, emergence of administrative
  criminology
• In the area of policy - managerial approach to
  crime control

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Elements of Law and Order Paradigm

• Reemergence of capital punishment
• Rebirth of prison
• War on Drugs
• Numerous strategies introducing new sentencing
  guidelines (truth in sentencing, three strikes
  and youre out)
• Zero tolerance policing, curfews
• Tough on crime political discourse being soft
  means political suicide (Dukakis case)
• Both Republicans (initially pro war on crime) and
  Democrats (initially against war on crime) win
  votes using populist Law and Order statements

12
Penal Crisis

• 1970 2005 up to 700 increase in prison
  population
• In 2005 1.5 million are in prisons, 750 000
  in local jails (U.S. Department of Justice data)
• 5 year projection (2007-2011) 13 increase in
  imprisonment, 1.7 million in prisons
• At least 200 increase in budget expenditures (60
  billion US dollars spent on corrections in 2006
  at least half of it is for prisons)
• Each prisoner costs the state 23 000 a year
• Overcrowding, risk of law suits and risk for
  whole state prison systems to be declared
  unconstitutional
• Crime rates go down significantly
• How much of this reduction can be attributed to
  incarceration is questionable
• Research summary by Vera Institute of Justice
  (2007) shows that on average 10 increase in
  prison population reduces crime by 2-4
• Many alternatives exist why private prisons?

13
Neoliberalism

• R. Reagan and M. Thatcher come to power in the
  beginning of 80ies
• Strong shift to neoliberal policies
• Reduction of state involvement in economy (state
  creates new markets) stimulating competition and
  free trade
• Each individual is viewed as a free private
  entrepreneur welfare benefits should be minimal
• Favoring of privatization and contracting out of
  state functions (water, waste management, roads,
  roads)
• In UK prison privatization was initially aimed at
  demonstrating radical aspirations of new
  government

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Impact of Neoliberal Ideology on Crime Control

• Reduction of government, withdrawal of influence
  in many areas
• The main function of the State now is security
  provision
• Individuals, civil society, business must
  participate in security provision private
  involvement in all areas (security is an item for
  sale)
• Major policy focus situational crime prevention
  and incarceration
• Private policing, electronic monitoring, private
  prisons
• The state is a great manager of risk that tries
  to minimize costs and attract private partners
  a Chief Commander in the War on Crime

15
Policy Transfer

• Policies that are transferred to some extent
• War on Drugs
• Zero Tolerance
• Three Strikes
• Electronic Monitoring (Tagging)
• But prison privatization policy is one of the
  most successful in terms of transfer
• Why?
• The answer might be existence of
  prison-industrial complex

16
Prison-Industrial Complex

• Private corrections corporations are trying to
  expand corrections system at home and abroad
• Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)
  controls 50 of the market in US, it is the 5th
  largest in US penal system (after federal and 3
  states), owns 40 prisons, manages 25.
• CCA revenues 1.3 billion US dollars annually,
  employs 16000 people
• GEO Group (former Wackenhut) controls 27 of
  global corrections market, revenues are 860
  million dollars annually
• Group 4 Securicor specializes on private
  security, electronic monitoring and private
  prisons
• All corrections corporations use aggressive
  marketing strategies and try to sell their
  services all over the world
• Engage of lobbying for prison privatization and
  expansion of incarceration in the US through
  American Legislation Exchange Council (ALEC)
• Also get support from neo-liberal think tanks
  (Heritage Foundation, Reason Foundation (US),
  Adam Smith Institute (UK)) who actively advocate
  privatization

17
Prerequisites for prison privatization transfer

• Launching the War on Crime and creating penal
  crisis resulting in the growth of corrections
  market
• Some preference to neoliberal strategies at
  least privatization strategies
• Presence of private corrections corporations and
  their interest in the market
• What of these prerequisites exist in Russia?

18
Crime Control Policy in Russia

• 2nd place after US with a 630 incarceration rate
• Overcrowding of prisons, abuse of power,
  tortures, inneficiency and high costs
• Penal crisis is visible and even worse than
  elsewhere unlike in the US both crime and
  imprisonment rates go up
• No need to introduce strategies like three
  strikes or truth in sentencing these
  standards already exist in Russian Criminal Code
• Huge corrections industry with 350 thousand
  employees
• Extensive use of Law and Order rhetoric by
• - politicians (including President),
• - chief law-enforcement officials (including
  Prosecutor General),
• - media (law and order shows) and
• - criminologists (claiming that we must be
  tougher on crime and blaming our crime control
  policy for being too liberal calls for zero
  tolerance treatment of hooligans resembles
  broken windows strategy)
• Potential corrections market does exist!
• New policies (such as introduction of alternative
  sanctions) will require private involvement
  costly to achieve by government itself

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Interest of Corrections Corporations

• Corrections corporations report about their plans
  to conquer new markets but Russia is not number
  1 on their waiting list
• Group 4 Securicor is present on the Russian
  market since 1994 providing private security
  services and (as they claim) electronic
  monitoring of prisoners
• Russias market must be very attractive but so
  far remains closed
• No influential think tanks (many foreign think
  tanks were asked to leave Russia)
• Policy process is very closed and does not allow
  for active official lobbying from the side of
  private corrections companies

20
Neoliberalism in Russia?

• It seems that neoliberal ideology is unlikely to
  gain support
• Neither left nor right political strategies seem
  to be influential
• Privatization has lost many of its supporters
• There is a tendency for centralization and
  regulation
• Government does not want to withdraw from its
  traditional functions although Russia can not be
  called welfare state
• Contracting out of public services (outsourcing)
  is possible this strategy is even present in
  the Concept of Administrative Reform in Russia
• But the government is unlikely to engage in close
  cooperation with private capital in the area of
  corrections (although recently electronic
  monitoring experiment was launched in Ryazan with
  the support of EU)
• In the foreseeable future prison privatization
  will not emerge

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Conclusions

• Privatization is inevitable to some extent
  public provision is too inefficient. Hopefully it
  will be limited to alternative sanctions.
• Private prisons in Russian conditions could
  increase abuse and neglect for prisoners rights
  (no effective control mechanisms exist,
  corruption is high)
• Therefore, although Russian penal policy closely
  resembles that of the United States - cultural
  (political and penal) differences are preventing
  private prison industry to emerge in the
  attractive corrections market
• Penal crisis is getting worse but there are no
  solutions offered so far
• Hopefully European influence will get stronger
  and alternatives other than privatization will
  emerge or be transferred