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Prison privatization: the Chilean case

Authors

  • Isabel Arriagada Gajewski Abogada, Licenciada en Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales de la Universidad de Chile. Investigadora del Centro de Estudios de la Justicia

Abstract

The chilean political, economic and social context of the 1990's gave rise to a public infrastructure concessions system which has since been questioned in the political and academic spheres. In particular, with regards to the present article, Chile implemented the "Primer Programa de Concesiones Penitenciaries" (First Penitentiary Concessions Program) characterized by the french model of mixed privatization. The associated regulatory framework prompted unforeseen budget overruns, inadequate conflict resolution mechanisms, deficient oversight, exorbitant per prisoner costs and overcrowding in privatized prisons, among other shortcomings. Both the attempts to improve the system and the attempts to replace it demonstrate the strengthening of the state penal system, undertaken by the governments of the Concertacion de Partidos por la Democracia in Chile.    

Keywords:

private prisons, penitentiary management, neoliberal penalty, prison concessions