Measuring Prison Performance: Government Privatization and AccountabilityThis book provides approaches and tools to measure prison performance, particularly in the context of analyzing public versus private management of prisons. The authors argue that prison performance must be measured in reference to the goals of a particular prison system, and introduce the technique of multilevel modeling to allow for simultaneous measurement of the individual and the institution. They also show how their analytic framework can be applied to other criminal justice components such as prosecution, adjudication, post-release supervision and policing. Further, they argue their framework can be used to evaluate the privatization of almost any publicly administered service. They contend that the ability to meaningfully compare public and private prisons can better inform penal policy and improve prison performance and accountability. |
Contents
Conceptualizing Prison Performance | 1 |
Prison Audits | 31 |
Understanding the Measurement ContextQualitative Assessment | 41 |
Multilevel Models and Behavioral Performance Measures | 51 |
Staff and Inmate Surveys as Performance Measures | 75 |
Cost Analyses | 87 |
The Relationship Between Cost and Performance and the Role of Prison Labor | 111 |
System Level Measurement | 119 |
Prison Performance Templates UserFriendly Performance Measurement Tools and Contract Compliance | 143 |
Lessons from the Public Administration Literature | 155 |
Looking Backward and Looking Forward | 179 |
Appendix | 187 |
Notes | 191 |
References | 197 |
| 215 | |
About the Authors | 223 |
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Common terms and phrases
American Correctional Association analysis assessment average behavior BRDA Bureau of Prisons capita costs chapter characteristics comparing prisons confidence intervals context contract cost comparisons crime criminal justice criminal trajectories Criminology Department of Corrections desistance develop discussion drug effects employees evaluate example expected facilities factors Federal Forrest City goals HM Prison Service impact Individual Security Scores individual-level institution security level jurisdictions Lanza-Kaduce level-2 Logan lurking variable mance McDonald ment mission monitor Moore Haven multilevel models offenders OPPAGA organizational outcomes overhead costs percent post-release prior prison administrators prison operations prison performance prison privatization prison system private prisons private sector privately operated prisons problems programs propensity public administration literature public and private public prisons public sector publicly recidivism reintegration relationship released Restorative Justice Saylor Simpson's Paradox social staff and inmates survey tion variable violence violent misconduct Wolds