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Prison Privatization and the Remand Population: Principle Versus Pragmatism?

NCJ Number
174246
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 37 Issue: 3 Dated: August 1998 Pages: 223-233
Author(s)
A James; K Bottomley
Date Published
1998
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article draws on the authors' recently published evaluation of HMP (Her Majesty's Prison) Wolds, the first contracted-out prison in the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The authors argue that prison privatization in England and Wales was a direct consequence of the increase in the remand population in the 1980s and the deteriorating conditions of their custody. They further argue that the response of Group 4 in designing a regime for Wolds was directly influenced by their awareness of the remand status of the prisoners they were to manage. The authors also reason that some of the problems that emerged in the first year of Wolds stemmed directly from the particular circumstances of remand prisoners and that Wolds' response to these problems resulted in regime modifications that relied on more traditional approaches. This compromised Wolds' original ethos and resulted in convergence with the public-sector prisons. In addition, the authors argue that these changes reflected a response to the social status shared by all prisoners rather than the legal status that is unique to remand prisoners; this, arguably, has contributed to a deterioration in the standards that Wolds initially offered to remand prisoners. 2 notes and 13 references