Brett C Burkhardt
Biographic Data
| ID | 154477 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brett C Burkhardt |
| GIVEN NAMES | Brett C |
| FAMILY NAME | Burkhardt |
| SIGNATURE | BURKHARDT B C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Oregon State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8662-4778 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 40 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 15 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
What we talk about when we talk about guns
Guns are potent cultural objects in the United States, a fact that has spurred much recent social science research. Much of that work examines the beliefs, discourses, and actions of gun enthusiasts. Less understood are the cultural dimensions of guns in the wider population, where gun owners are in the minority. This paper considers the cultural life of guns by studying the language used to depict them in a prominent US mass media outlet over fo…
From Private Prisons to Private Detention
The United States runs the largest immigrant detention system in the world, and it relies on private companies to do so. This visualization considers how private prison companies have made immigrant detention a central part of their business. I compile and report 20 years of revenues for the two dominant private prison firms in the United States. The revenues are disaggregated by customer and presented as proportional stacked area graphs, which s…
Legitimation work in privatized criminal justice
How do private companies justify taking on criminal justice functions? Building on writing on legitimacy and privatization, this article describes three rhetorical practices intended to increase the legitimacy of private companies carrying out criminal justice functions: softening (obscuring the use of force); shrinking (demonstrating deference to the state); and signaling (proclaiming alignment with pro-social values). The article demonstrates t…
Understanding Public Preferences for Policing Homeless Individuals in the United States
The United States has a large and growing homeless population. In the name of public order, municipalities across the country have criminalized behaviors associated with homeless people in public spaces (e.g. panhandling) and tasked police with responding to violations. What should police do in these encounters? This study reports on a nationwide survey experiment that asked US residents whether police should arrest, help, or ignore a homeless in…
Toward a political sociology of privatized punishment
Privatized punishment—in which nonstate actors carry out state‐mandated criminal punishments—has developed into a common practice since its rise in the 1980s. Many disciplines, including criminology, political science, public administration, and economics, have examined its use over the past four decades. However, privatized punishment has not garnered much attention in sociology. This is surprising, as privatized punishment touches on the key th…
The politics of correctional privatization in the United States
Research Summary Private correctional firms are political actors. They work to create favorable conditions to market their services. At the same time, they are constrained by external political forces, including political parties, social movements, and public opinion. In this article, I review what we know about the reciprocal relationship between the private corrections industry and politics. Policy Implications Through my review of extant resea…
Contesting market rationality
Market rationality suffuses many areas of modern criminal justice. Prison privatization is one area in which market rationality is particularly salient. This paper presents a case study of how market rationality was deployed in public discourse on prison privatization. It answers four questions: (1) Who shaped public discourse on prison privatization? (2) How frequently were market-rational themes invoked in the public discourse?, (3) Who employe…
Who is in private prisons? Demographic profiles of prisoners and workers in American private prisons
Durkheim, Punishment, and Prison Privatization
In a seminal statement, Emile Durkheim argued that punishment of crime has a salutary effect on society by reaffirming the collective consciousness. With few exceptions, Durkheim assumed that criminal punishment is done on behalf of society. With the rise of prison privatization, this assumption is increasingly called into question. For-profit firms carrying out punishment, though legally agents of the state, are motivated by private gain. This a…
Robert A Ferguson, Inferno
Where Have All the (White and Hispanic) Inmates Gone? Comparing the Racial Composition of Private and Public Adult Correctional Facilities
A great deal of research has documented racial disparities in imprisonment rates in the United States, but little work has been done to understand the process by which inmates are assigned to individual correctional facilities. This article extends research on racial disparities in imprisonment rates to consider racial disparities in inmate populations across prisons. Specifically, it examines the racial pattern of inmate placement in privately o…
Private Prisons in Public Discourse
New policies require legitimacy to survive. Prison privatization represents a policy challenged by initial perceptions of illegitimacy. In the 1980s, governments began to allow private firms to run correctional facilities, shifting an inherently coercive, traditionally governmental function—incarceration—to the private sector. With data from 706 articles in four major American newspapers spanning 24 years, this research uses Freudenburg and Alari…
Ideology over strategy
Published as: Burkhardt, Brett C. 2011. “Ideology over Strategy: Extending Voting Rights to Felons and Ex-Felons, 1966–1992.” The Social Science Journal 48(2):356–63. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2010.11.001)
Reducing child support debt and its consequences
As child support debt owed nationally persists at enormous levels, both noncustodial parents and the custodial families who are not receiving support suffer significant hardships, and states are forced to expend greater resources on collection and enforcement efforts. This paper presents findings from an evaluation of a demonstration program developed to help noncustodial parents with large child support debts reduce their debt while simultaneous…
Criminal Punishment, Labor Market Outcomes, and Economic Inequality
A growing empirical literature examines the role of incarceration in labor market outcomes and economic inequality more broadly. Devah Pager's book, Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration (2007), offers compelling evidence that employment opportunities for former prisoners—especially black former prisoners—are bleak. I review Pager's methods and findings, place them in the context of previous work, and discuss the r…
Reducing child support debt and its consequences
As child support debt owed nationally persists at enormous levels, both noncustodial parents and the custodial families who are not receiving support suffer significant hardships, and states are forced to expend greater resources on collection and enforcement efforts. This paper presents findings from an evaluation of a demonstration program developed to help noncustodial parents with large child support debts reduce their debt while simultaneous…
Private Prisons in Public Discourse
New policies require legitimacy to survive. Prison privatization represents a policy challenged by initial perceptions of illegitimacy. In the 1980s, governments began to allow private firms to run correctional facilities, shifting an inherently coercive, traditionally governmental function—incarceration—to the private sector. With data from 706 articles in four major American newspapers spanning 24 years, this research uses Freudenburg and Alari…
The politics of correctional privatization in the United States
Research Summary Private correctional firms are political actors. They work to create favorable conditions to market their services. At the same time, they are constrained by external political forces, including political parties, social movements, and public opinion. In this article, I review what we know about the reciprocal relationship between the private corrections industry and politics. Policy Implications Through my review of extant resea…
Contesting market rationality
Market rationality suffuses many areas of modern criminal justice. Prison privatization is one area in which market rationality is particularly salient. This paper presents a case study of how market rationality was deployed in public discourse on prison privatization. It answers four questions: (1) Who shaped public discourse on prison privatization? (2) How frequently were market-rational themes invoked in the public discourse?, (3) Who employe…
Durkheim, Punishment, and Prison Privatization
In a seminal statement, Emile Durkheim argued that punishment of crime has a salutary effect on society by reaffirming the collective consciousness. With few exceptions, Durkheim assumed that criminal punishment is done on behalf of society. With the rise of prison privatization, this assumption is increasingly called into question. For-profit firms carrying out punishment, though legally agents of the state, are motivated by private gain. This a…
Where Have All the (White and Hispanic) Inmates Gone? Comparing the Racial Composition of Private and Public Adult Correctional Facilities
A great deal of research has documented racial disparities in imprisonment rates in the United States, but little work has been done to understand the process by which inmates are assigned to individual correctional facilities. This article extends research on racial disparities in imprisonment rates to consider racial disparities in inmate populations across prisons. Specifically, it examines the racial pattern of inmate placement in privately o…
From Private Prisons to Private Detention
The United States runs the largest immigrant detention system in the world, and it relies on private companies to do so. This visualization considers how private prison companies have made immigrant detention a central part of their business. I compile and report 20 years of revenues for the two dominant private prison firms in the United States. The revenues are disaggregated by customer and presented as proportional stacked area graphs, which s…
Who is in private prisons? Demographic profiles of prisoners and workers in American private prisons
Criminal Punishment, Labor Market Outcomes, and Economic Inequality
A growing empirical literature examines the role of incarceration in labor market outcomes and economic inequality more broadly. Devah Pager's book, Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration (2007), offers compelling evidence that employment opportunities for former prisoners—especially black former prisoners—are bleak. I review Pager's methods and findings, place them in the context of previous work, and discuss the r…
Criminal Punishment, Labor Market Outcomes, and Economic Inequality
A growing empirical literature examines the role of incarceration in labor market outcomes and economic inequality more broadly. Devah Pager's book, Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration (2007), offers compelling evidence that employment opportunities for former prisoners—especially black former prisoners—are bleak. I review Pager's methods and findings, place them in the context of previous work, and discuss the r…
Ideology over strategy
Published as: Burkhardt, Brett C. 2011. “Ideology over Strategy: Extending Voting Rights to Felons and Ex-Felons, 1966–1992.” The Social Science Journal 48(2):356–63. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2010.11.001)
Reducing child support debt and its consequences
As child support debt owed nationally persists at enormous levels, both noncustodial parents and the custodial families who are not receiving support suffer significant hardships, and states are forced to expend greater resources on collection and enforcement efforts. This paper presents findings from an evaluation of a demonstration program developed to help noncustodial parents with large child support debts reduce their debt while simultaneous…
Private Prisons in Public Discourse
New policies require legitimacy to survive. Prison privatization represents a policy challenged by initial perceptions of illegitimacy. In the 1980s, governments began to allow private firms to run correctional facilities, shifting an inherently coercive, traditionally governmental function—incarceration—to the private sector. With data from 706 articles in four major American newspapers spanning 24 years, this research uses Freudenburg and Alari…
Durkheim, Punishment, and Prison Privatization
In a seminal statement, Emile Durkheim argued that punishment of crime has a salutary effect on society by reaffirming the collective consciousness. With few exceptions, Durkheim assumed that criminal punishment is done on behalf of society. With the rise of prison privatization, this assumption is increasingly called into question. For-profit firms carrying out punishment, though legally agents of the state, are motivated by private gain. This a…
Robert A Ferguson, Inferno
Where Have All the (White and Hispanic) Inmates Gone? Comparing the Racial Composition of Private and Public Adult Correctional Facilities
A great deal of research has documented racial disparities in imprisonment rates in the United States, but little work has been done to understand the process by which inmates are assigned to individual correctional facilities. This article extends research on racial disparities in imprisonment rates to consider racial disparities in inmate populations across prisons. Specifically, it examines the racial pattern of inmate placement in privately o…
Who is in private prisons? Demographic profiles of prisoners and workers in American private prisons
Contesting market rationality
Market rationality suffuses many areas of modern criminal justice. Prison privatization is one area in which market rationality is particularly salient. This paper presents a case study of how market rationality was deployed in public discourse on prison privatization. It answers four questions: (1) Who shaped public discourse on prison privatization? (2) How frequently were market-rational themes invoked in the public discourse?, (3) Who employe…
The politics of correctional privatization in the United States
Research Summary Private correctional firms are political actors. They work to create favorable conditions to market their services. At the same time, they are constrained by external political forces, including political parties, social movements, and public opinion. In this article, I review what we know about the reciprocal relationship between the private corrections industry and politics. Policy Implications Through my review of extant resea…
Toward a political sociology of privatized punishment
Privatized punishment—in which nonstate actors carry out state‐mandated criminal punishments—has developed into a common practice since its rise in the 1980s. Many disciplines, including criminology, political science, public administration, and economics, have examined its use over the past four decades. However, privatized punishment has not garnered much attention in sociology. This is surprising, as privatized punishment touches on the key th…
Understanding Public Preferences for Policing Homeless Individuals in the United States
The United States has a large and growing homeless population. In the name of public order, municipalities across the country have criminalized behaviors associated with homeless people in public spaces (e.g. panhandling) and tasked police with responding to violations. What should police do in these encounters? This study reports on a nationwide survey experiment that asked US residents whether police should arrest, help, or ignore a homeless in…
From Private Prisons to Private Detention
The United States runs the largest immigrant detention system in the world, and it relies on private companies to do so. This visualization considers how private prison companies have made immigrant detention a central part of their business. I compile and report 20 years of revenues for the two dominant private prison firms in the United States. The revenues are disaggregated by customer and presented as proportional stacked area graphs, which s…
Legitimation work in privatized criminal justice
How do private companies justify taking on criminal justice functions? Building on writing on legitimacy and privatization, this article describes three rhetorical practices intended to increase the legitimacy of private companies carrying out criminal justice functions: softening (obscuring the use of force); shrinking (demonstrating deference to the state); and signaling (proclaiming alignment with pro-social values). The article demonstrates t…
What we talk about when we talk about guns
Guns are potent cultural objects in the United States, a fact that has spurred much recent social science research. Much of that work examines the beliefs, discourses, and actions of gun enthusiasts. Less understood are the cultural dimensions of guns in the wider population, where gun owners are in the minority. This paper considers the cultural life of guns by studying the language used to depict them in a prominent US mass media outlet over fo…
Political science (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Law (11 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (10 works) · Criminology (10 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works)