scholarly journals Staff‐Prisoner Relationships, Staff Professionalism, and the Use of Authority in Public‐ and Private‐Sector Prisons

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (02) ◽  
pp. 309-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Crewe ◽  
Alison Liebling ◽  
Susie Hulley

Prison privatization has generally been associated with developments in neoliberal punishment. However, relatively little is known about the specific impact of privatization on the daily life of prisoners, including areas that are particularly salient not just to debates about neoliberal penality, but the wider reconfiguration of public service provision and frontline work. Drawing on a study of values, practices, and quality of life in five private‐sector and two public‐sector prisons in England and Wales, this article seeks to compare and explain three key domains of prison culture and quality: relationships between frontline staff and prisoners, levels of staff professionalism (or jailcraft), and prisoners' experience of state authority. The study identifies some of the characteristic strengths and weaknesses of the public and private prison sectors, particularly in relation to staff professionalism and its impact on the prisoner experience. These findings have relevance beyond the sphere of prisons and punishment.

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-155
Author(s):  
Porfirio Guevara ◽  
Robert Hill ◽  
Michael Scholz

Purpose This study aims to show how hedonic methods can be used to compare the performance of the public and private sector housing markets in Costa Rica. Design/methodology/approach Hedonic price indexes are computed using the adjacent-period method. Average housing quality is measured by comparing hedonic and median price indexes. The relative performance of the public and private sector residential construction is compared by estimating separate hedonic models for each sector. A private sector price is then imputed for each house built in the public sector, and a public sector price is imputed for each house built in the private sector. Findings The real quality-adjusted price of private housing rose by 12 per cent between 2000 and 2013, whereas the price of private housing rose by 9 per cent. The average quality of private housing rose by 45 per cent, whereas that of public housing fell by 18 per cent. Nevertheless, the hedonic imputation analysis reveals that public housing could not be produced more cheaply in the private sector. Social implications The quality of public housing has declined over time. The hedonic analysis shows that the decline is not because of a lack of competition between construction firms in the public sector. An alternative demand side explanation is provided. Originality/value This study applies hedonic methods in novel ways to compare the relative performance of the public and private housing sectors in Costa Rica. The results shed new light on the effectiveness of public sector housing programs.


2003 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Carlos R. Ruano

The purpose of this article is to analyze the formulation and implementation of educational policy processes in relation to private schools in Guatemala. Specifically, how bilingual education is defined and implemented in the private education sector in Guatemala City where the largest number of privately run establishments exist. Given the great deficits in the provision of educational coverage in the public sector, there has been an explosive expansion of private institutions which have very different levels of quality. Through an analysis of the administrative processes within the Guatemalan Government in general and its Education Ministry in particular as well as of the governance arrangements existing in the private school sector, an overall view of the curricular and policy decisions taken by private schools in the formulation and implementation of bilingual education is presented. This study was based on a sample of six private schools which cater to higher income segments of Guatemala City’s student population. Some of the relevant findings of this study include, the existence of a situation of quasi autonomous institutional functioning of the private sector, extreme differentials in the quality of services provided, inadequate levels of teacher and school administrator’s training as well as lack of cooperation between public and private sector schools.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 671-694
Author(s):  
Katja Drnovšek ◽  
Boštjan Brezovnik

Because of the public sector crisis, the role of the state in the provision of public service activities has been gradually changing ever since the 1980s, as the role of the financier in public infrastructure, as well as of the provider of public service activities, was increasingly being assumed by the private sector, while the state began to strengthen its role in the areas of regulation and supervision.With the involvement of the private sector in the so-called project financing of investments in construction of infrastructure and the consequent provision of public service activities, new and innovative forms of cooperation between the public and private sector (public-private partnership) have gradually been introduced as an addition to the already established concession and public procurement relationships. At the same time, states have in addition to classic (budgetary) financing gradually introduced new ways of financing public service activities, which enabled the repayment of investments in public infrastructure and reimbursement of (private) providers for goods delivered or services rendered (public goods). Undoubtedly, these forms of cooperation between the public and private sector call for regulation of certain complex issues. This article focuses on the examination of forms of integration between the public and private sector in the provision of public service activities in the framework of concession relationships.


2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 1409-1418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bangcheng Liu ◽  
Lanying Du ◽  
Hao Wen ◽  
Fan Bo

To investigate the public service motivation (PSM) of public- and private-sector employees in a Chinese context, comparative studies were conducted with 2 independent samples. In Study 1, confirmatory factor analysis was implemented to assess the level of PSM in 250 public employees. In Study 2, 247 respondents from private companies were evaluated. Results gained in these studies not only provided evidence supporting the construct validity of this measure of PSM in a Chinese context, but also demonstrated that, comparatively, public-sector employees' levels of PSM were relatively higher than those of private-sector employees, especially in relation to the attraction to public policymaking and commitment to public interest dimensions of PSM.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-73
Author(s):  
Paweł Modrzyński ◽  
Robert Karaszewski ◽  
Alicja Reuben

The efficiency and quality of performed tasks constitute one of the indicators of functioning of an organization in both the public and private sector. The article presents the experience of the Shared Services Centre (SSC) in Toruń in the managing processes conducted as a part of provided shared service. The management of the processes which are presented by the authors of the article includes inventories of taken-over processes, their standardisation, optimisation and the principles of constructing service level agreements (SLAs) concluded by the SSC with the served units.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moumita Acharyya ◽  
Tanuja Agarwala

PurposeThe paper aims to understand the different motivations / reasons for engaging in CSR initiatives by the organizations. In addition, the study also examines the relationship between CSR motivations and corporate social performance (CSP).Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from two power sector organizations: one was a private sector firm and the other was a public sector firm. A comparative analysis of the variables with respect to private and public sector organizations was conducted. A questionnaire survey was administered among 370 employees working in the power sector, with 199 executives from public sector and 171 from private sector.Findings“Philanthropic” motivation emerged as the most dominant CSR motivation among both the public and private sector firms. The private sector firm was found to be significantly higher with respect to “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest” and “normative” CSR motivations when compared with the public sector firms. Findings suggest that public and private sector firms differed significantly on four CSR motivations, namely, “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest”, “normative” and “coercive”. The CSP score was significantly different among the two power sector firms of public and private sectors. The private sector firm had a higher CSP level than the public sector undertaking.Research limitations/implicationsFurther studies in the domain need to address differences in CSR motivations and CSP across other sectors to understand the role of industry characteristics in influencing social development targets of organizations. Research also needs to focus on demonstrating the relationship between CSP and financial performance of the firms. Further, the HR outcomes of CSR initiatives and measurement of CSP indicators, such as attracting and retaining talent, employee commitment and organizational climate factors, need to be assessed.Originality/valueThe social issues are now directly linked with the business model to ensure consistency and community development. The results reveal a need for “enlightened self-interest” which is the second dominant CSR motivation among the organizations. The study makes a novel contribution by determining that competitive and coercive motivations are not functional as part of organizational CSR strategy. CSR can never be forced as the very idea is to do social good. Eventually, the CSR approach demands a commitment from within. The organizations need to emphasize more voluntary engagement of employees and go beyond statutory requirements for realizing the true CSR benefits.


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