Corrections Telecommunication and Technology
F. Warren Benton, Ph.D.
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During most of this century, direct services in corrections have been provided by government
agencies. However, government has always relied on the private sector in a supporting role,
providing supplies, technical services, and facilities. During the last two decades, as the demand for
correctional services has grown, the private sector has moved from the more supportive role to the
front line, operating correctional facilities and programs.
According to Chris Bryson, in the October issue of The National Times, "ten years ago the country
had barely a thousand private prison beds. There are now almost 70,000 inmates incarcerated in 104
private facilities in 19 states. In each of the last five years the industry has grown at an aggregate
rate of 34%. But with 95% of inmates still held in publicly run jails and prisons, projections are for
accelerated expansion in the private sector." In this article, I will describe ways to track the
privatization and commercialization of corrections on the internet.
During the last year, corrections has begun to come into focus on the web. Several major web sites
provide a launching point leading to correctional professionals and organizations. The leading site,
based on scope of links and organizational support, as well as originality of content, is The Corrections Connection. This is a major web site that includes the
American Correctional Association and the American Jail Association. A more specialized and
commercial site is the Correctional Marketplace which provides a
searchable directory of links primarily for correctional products and services. Using these sites as a
starting point, it is possible to examine the business of corrections from several perspectives.
Advertising Reflects the Commercial Growth in Corrections
One approach is to look at advertising for correctional services on the web. One of the most
extensive listings can be found at the Correctional Marketplace.
More than 500 business-card style advertisements are available on line, searchable, organized
alphabetically or by functional categories. A sampling of some of the categories suggests the scope
of the services available:
Both Directories Could be Improved
The Directories illustrate technical problems in web page design and presentation. For example, if
you search for companies by name on Correctional Marketplace, all of the names are in a single
giant web page that can take a minute to load from A to Z depending on the speed of your
connection. It would be simpler and faster if the listing were broken down by letter of the alphabet so
that if you click on "P" you get only those listings. Corrections Connection is structured as a
searchable index. Thus, you must select a topic to get your listings. There is no way to look for a
company by name, and the e-mail directory is for people, not businesses. I assume that both
directories are in constant improvement, and thus, by the time my observations are in print, new and
improved features may be operational.
Lack of Web Pages Limits Marketing Effectiveness
Both listings suffer from a lack of links to web pages by the vendors involved. In some instances,
this occurs because the vendors do not have web pages. In other instances, the vendor has a web
page, but the listings do not include the link. Either way, the vendor and the potential customer
suffer. A presentation is most effective when the potential customer can immediately click from the
listing to the vendor's web page, to get further information about the products and services involved.
Both directories offer web page services to advertisers and will link to web pages that the advertisers
already maintain. The vendors would be well advised to develop and clearly link their web pages.
The Corrections Connection Bid Center provides another view
The Corrections Connection has another interesting site,
The Bid Center. Correctional agencies announce their intent to
purchase products and services, and invite vendors to respond. When I recently visited the site, state
and local agencies were announcing their intent to purchase video imaging systems, furniture, an
inmate banking and commissary information system, as well as a 92-bed community correction
center.
Two Professors Track Privatization of Corrections
The growth of private management of correctional facilities is the focus of the Prison Privatization
Research Page, which is maintained by Professor Charles H.
Logan of the University of Connecticut, and Professor Charles W. Thomas of the University of
Florida. Their site provides up to date information on private management of prisons, as well as
links to articles and sources of information.
Focusing on a Specific Company
The power of the internet becomes more apparent if you decide to focus in on a specific company,
especially if the company is large. Such a search may be important if you intend to make a major
purchase from the company, but the information can also be interesting just to keep track of
developments in an important part of our field.
For my example, I will use Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). I select CCA because they
are a large, public stock corporation specializing in corrections. The Prison Privatization Research
Page provides a table indicating that, as of the end of 1994, CCA had 51% of the USA market share
for private prisons -- the leading company in the field.
There are several internet sites that can provide us with additional information about CCA. A good
place to start is a news search engine such as Infoseek YourNews.
Entering search terms such as the name of the company and the stock symbol yielded, on the day I
searched, an announcement of the award of a 1,500 bed contract.
I then proceeded to a site called StockMaster which provides updated
price quotations for stocks. I searched on CXC, and received a 1-year graph of the stock price and
share sales volume, as well as a 20-minute old quotation, and the high and the low for the day.
Stockmaster is allied with another website called Hoovers which provides
information about stocks. Some of the information is free, and more detailed information costs
money. However, Hoovers provided a brief summary about the company, a listing of company
officials and statistics, and a link to CCA's web site. The Corrections Corporation of America Web Site is financial, not operational. It is intended for the green eyeshades
crowd, but there is a wealth of information if you are willing to read carefully. However, you can
find more detailed information at the bottom of the Hoovers page. They provide links to the
following:
In my example, I selected CCA because they are a large and well-known organization. However,
similar information is available in other major companies in the corrections field, such as:
Most of the companies involved in correctional services are not listed, or are parts of large
companies (for example, telephone companies) so that a search like this does not generate
meaningful information. However, if the business of corrections continues to grow, and the internet
continues to develop in its scope and capacity, then in the coming months and years, more
information will become available.
Corrections Business on the Internet
by F. Warren Benton, Ph.D.
Copyright Corrections Managers' Report, April/May 1997
A similar directory can be found at The Corrections Connection Product and Services Directory.