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Devil in the Details: The Case Against the Case Study of Private Prisons, Criminological Research, and Conflict of Interest

NCJ Number
180362
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 46 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2000 Pages: 92-136
Author(s)
Lonn Lanza-Kaduce; Karen F. Parker; Charles W. Thomas
Editor(s)
Don C. Gibbons
Date Published
2000
Length
45 pages
Annotation
This is a rejoinder to an earlier article containing a case study of private prisons, criminological research and conflict of interest.
Abstract
This article takes issue with the previous study of conflict of interest and/or recidivism research (Geis, Mobley and Shichor, 1999) on the grounds that it did not analyze either accurately. The earlier article was a "case study [that] involves the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)" and focused on "the work and the relationship to CCA of Charles W. Thomas." The thesis of the earlier article was that "failure to...disclose in a timely manner what later might be seen as bias based on financial self-interest inevitably will taint...publications and statements." The Thomas conflict-of-interest situation was distinct from the recidivism research on private prisons that the earlier article also reviewed. That research had been conducted by two of the authors of the current rejoinder. The third rejoinder author is the individual who had a relationship with CCA. This article provides a section-by-section review of the Geis et al. case study and points out problematic sections. Notes, references