Segment Reporting - Additional Information (Detail)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of facilities owned and managed	47
Number of facilities managed and not owned	20
Number of reporting segments	2

Number Of facilities managed and not owned by company.

No definition available.

Name:	cxw_NumberOfFacilitiesManagedAndNotOwnedByCompany
Namespace Prefix:	cxw_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant