Contracting for Poor Performance: The Failures of Private Prisons in The United States

Abstract

The private prison has become a common establishment in the United States of America. In this paper, we challenge the notion that private prisons have succeeded in serving the interest of this country. By explaining the failures of private prisons in their rehabilitative capacity and policy advocacy, we shed light on a racially marginalizing institution. Further, we reveal the failure of the private prison contract to align the incentives of private prison corporations with the assumed goal of rehabilitation and innovation. The inability on behalf of government negotiators to insert performance measures into private prison contracts has resulted in the disappointing reality of private prisons in the United States. Private prisons are failing to provide meaningful results.