Aggregate dividends declared during the period for each share of common stock outstanding.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CommonStockDividendsPerShareDeclared
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date the declared dividend will be paid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6367179&loc=d3e4304-108586

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendPayableDateToBePaidDayMonthAndYear
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date the dividend to be paid was declared, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsPayableDateDeclaredDayMonthAndYear
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date the holder must own the stock to be entitled to the dividend, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsPayableDateOfRecordDayMonthAndYear
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsPayableLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsAxis=cxw_DividendPaymentOneMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsAxis=cxw_DividendPaymentTwoMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsAxis=cxw_DividendPaymentThreeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsAxis=cxw_DividendPaymentFourMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsAxis=cxw_DividendPaymentFiveMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsAxis=cxw_DividendPaymentSixMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Declared Common Stock Dividends (Detail) - $ / shares	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
Declared Common Stock Dividends (Detail) - $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Dividends Payable [Line Items]
Per Share	$ 0.54	$ 0.54	$ 1.08	$ 1.08
Dividend Payment 1st
Dividends Payable [Line Items]
Declaration Date			Feb. 20, 2015
Record Date			Apr. 02, 2015
Payable Date			Apr. 15, 2015
Per Share			$ 0.54
Dividend Payment 2nd
Dividends Payable [Line Items]
Declaration Date			May 14, 2015
Record Date			Jul. 02, 2015
Payable Date			Jul. 15, 2015
Per Share			$ 0.54
Dividend Payment 3rd
Dividends Payable [Line Items]
Declaration Date			Aug. 13, 2015
Record Date			Oct. 02, 2015
Payable Date			Oct. 15, 2015
Per Share			$ 0.54
Dividend Payment 4th
Dividends Payable [Line Items]
Declaration Date			Dec. 10, 2015
Record Date			Jan. 04, 2016
Payable Date			Jan. 15, 2016
Per Share			$ 0.54
Dividend Payment 5th
Dividends Payable [Line Items]
Declaration Date			Feb. 19, 2016
Record Date			Apr. 01, 2016
Payable Date			Apr. 15, 2016
Per Share			$ 0.54
Dividend Payment 6th
Dividends Payable [Line Items]
Declaration Date			May 12, 2016
Record Date			Jul. 01, 2016
Payable Date			Jul. 15, 2016
Per Share			$ 0.54