Debt - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012 Amended Revolving Credit Facility	Jun. 30, 2012 Amended Revolving Credit Facility	Jun. 30, 2012 Amended Revolving Credit Facility Minimum	Jun. 30, 2012 Amended Revolving Credit Facility Maximum	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Notes 6.25% Due 2013	Jan. 06, 2012 Senior Notes 6.25% Due 2013	Jun. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 6.25% Due 2013	Jun. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 6.25% Due 2013	Jun. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 6.75% Due 2014	Jun. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 6.75% Due 2014	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Notes 6.75% Due 2014	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 6.75% Due 2014 Repayment of Debt	Jul. 31, 2012 Senior Notes 6.75% Due 2014 Repayment of Debt	Jun. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 7.75% Due 2017	Jun. 30, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility	Mar. 31, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility	Jun. 30, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility	Jun. 30, 2012 Swingline Loans	Jun. 30, 2012 Letter of Credit
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of credit facility maximum borrowing capacity			$ 785,000,000													$ 450,000,000		$ 450,000,000	$ 30,000,000
Revolving Credit Facility initiation date																		Dec. 31, 2007
Purchase of Senior Notes									335,000,000
Line of credit interest on outstanding borrowings																		At CCA’s option, interest on outstanding borrowings of the Amended Revolving Credit Facility is based on either a base rate plus a margin ranging from 0.25% to 1.0% or a London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus a margin ranging from 1.25% to 2.0% based on CCA’s leverage ratio.
Debt issuance costs, capitalized		6,000,000
Charge against write-off of loan costs								100,000		200,000			200,000				100,000
Revolving Credit Facility maturity date	Dec. 31, 2016															Dec. 31, 2016
Base rate plus a margin			0.50%	0.25%	1.00%
LIBOR plus a margin			1.50%	1.25%	2.00%
Percentage of commitment fee to unfunded balance			0.30%
Sublimit for issuance of standby letters of credit	100,000,000
Borrowings under credit facility			645,000,000																	28,300,000
Line of credit facility			111,700,000
Percentage of capital stock of foreign subsidiary secured by pledge under Revolving Credit Facilities			65.00%
Aggregate principal amount								375,000,000	375,000,000	90,000,000	90,000,000	150,000,000			465,000,000
Interest rate stated percentage of Senior Notes								6.25%	6.25%	6.75%	6.75%				7.75%
Unsecured senior notes issued date									Mar. 31, 2005		Jan. 31, 2006				Jun. 30, 2009
Note maturity date									Mar. 15, 2013		Jan. 31, 2014				Jun. 01, 2017
Maximum cash tender offer						150,000,000
Early tender deadline date						January 5, 2012
Total consideration offered upon tendering of senior notes						1,002.50
Principal amount of Senior Notes for which consideration is offered						1,000
Cash tender paid							57,500,000
Redemption of Senior Notes							277,500,000
Principal amount of Senior Notes outstanding after redemption							40,000,000	40,000,000	40,000,000					40,000,000
Amount charged against purchase and redemption of debt									1,400,000
Redemption date									April 16, 2012
Percentage of redemption price of the principal amount together with accrued and unpaid interest								100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%			100.00%
Redemption date										Jun. 14, 2012	Jun. 14, 2012			Aug. 27, 2012
Redeemable aggregate principal amount										$ 60,000,000	$ 60,000,000			$ 50,000,000
Issued price of Senior Notes															97.116%
Yield to maturity															8.25%
Percentage of notes redeemable by net proceeds from equity offering															35.00%
Redemption price percentage of aggregate principal amount outstanding of remaining notes															65.00%