Schedule of Revenue and Net Operating Income of Owned and Managed and the Managed-Only Facilities and Reconciliation to CCA's Operating Income (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014		Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total management revenue										$ 1,755,745	$ 1,612,671	$ 1,687,809
Total operating expenses										1,228,080	1,136,212	1,203,541
Rental and other revenue										37,342	34,196	6,488
Other operating expense										(28,048)	(19,923)	(16,810)
General and administrative										(103,936)	(106,429)	(103,590)
Depreciation and amortization										(151,514)	(113,925)	(112,692)
Asset impairments					$ (27,800)					(955)	(30,082)	(6,513)
OPERATING INCOME	$ 66,539	$ 65,436	$ 79,753	$ 68,826	$ 41,845	[1]	$ 69,850	$ 65,535	$ 63,066	280,554	240,296	251,151
Owned and managed
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total management revenue										1,543,750	1,379,986	1,386,355
Total operating expenses										1,038,070	928,857	941,638
OPERATING INCOME										505,680	451,129	444,717
Managed-only
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total management revenue										211,995	232,685	301,454
Total operating expenses										190,010	207,355	261,903
OPERATING INCOME										21,985	25,330	39,551
Facility
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
OPERATING INCOME										$ 527,665	$ 476,459	$ 484,268

[1] The earnings amounts in the fourth quarter of 2014 were unfavorably impacted by $27.8 million of non-cash impairments recorded to write down the book values of two of CCA's non-core facilities to the estimated fair values, as discussed in Note 5.