The Minnesota research was designed to produce an objective comparison of the correctional services and programs available in four medium-security prisons in Minnesota. The goal was to determine what has been the past experience -- the benefits, the problems, and the limitations -- with privatization of institutional correctional services and to compare services and program quality with Minnesota's public prisons. All four of the prisons involved in the study have been operating for many years. Three of the prisons were publicly operated, and the fourth was the Prairie Correctional Facility (PCF) in Appleton, a private correctional facility that began operating in 1993. The research involved a review of Department of Corrections files and records as well as similar documents from the PCF. Site visits were made to observe prison programs and to obtain qualitative data regarding their content and operation. The central component of the study was survey research that involved interviews with prisoners from both the medium-security prisons and PCF. Interview data provided insights about significant differences in correctional service delivery and program operations. The research findings add significant evidence to a growing perception that a pattern of deficiencies in the way private prisons are being managed in the United States are proving them to be unsuitable for handling prisoners above the lowest levels of security classification. These deficiencies include inadequate programming, unreliable classification methods, and insufficient numbers of experienced, well-trained personnel. 4 tables and 15 references