Captive Populations

President Bush's 1000 points of light, with its deemphasis on federal services, serves to flame this decades' debate over the effectiveness of public versus private services. Does the private sector provide better services more efficiently than the public sector? Captive Populations examines this debate by comparing for-profit, nonprofit, and government service delivery for dependent populations. Focus is placed on services for captive groups: education and child-care, health-care systems, criminal justice services, and long-term care for the elderly. Kronenfeld and Whicker have directed themselves to scholars and practitioners in public health, health administration, public policy, public administration, gerontology, criminal justice, social work, and education. They review service delivery issues and provide a broad comparative perspective.

Captive Populations focuses on services for the young, the incarcerated, the sick, and the elderly. Kronenfeld and Whicker thoroughly explore the advantages and disadvantages of public versus nonprofit and private service delivery for each of these dependent populations. They then summarize the similarities and differences across the four service and captive population areas. They discuss implications of the growth of for-profit care in the United States and conclude with recommendations.

JENNIE JACOBS KRONENFELD is a Professor in the School of Health Administraton and Policy, College of Business, Arizona State University. A former Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina, she has published about seventy articles on public health, medicine and sociology and coauthored four books, including two with Marcia L. Whicker-- U.S. Health Policy (Praeger 1984) and Sex Role Changes (Praeger 1986). Dr. Kronenfeld has held numerous national offices in various professional, sociological, and health associations.

MARCIA LYNN WHICKER is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds six degrees, has held faculty positions in several universities, and has worked for a variety of government agencies. Dr. Whicker has coauthored six books and has published over forty articles.