Variable Interest Entities (Details Textual)	3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended											3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Apr. 01, 2012 USD ($) director bed facility		Apr. 03, 2011 USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2012 USD ($)		Jan. 01, 2012 USD ($)		Apr. 01, 2012 MCFs Non Recourse Debt [Member]	Oct. 02, 2011 MCFs Non Recourse Debt [Member]	Apr. 01, 2012 South Texas Detention Complex Carrying Value [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2012 Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2012 Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2012 Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] South Texas Detention Complex Carrying Value [Member] Subordinate Notes STLDC [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2012 Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] South Texas Detention Complex Carrying Value [Member] Subordinate Notes STLDC [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2012 South African Custodial Services Pty Limited [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2012 South African Custodial Services Pty Limited [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2012 Geo Amey [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2012 Geo Amey [Member] GBP (£)
Variable Interest Entities (Textual) [Abstract]
Number of beds in detention Complex	1,904
Aggregate principal amount of taxable revenue bonds										$ 49,500,000
Property and equipment, net	1,717,091,000	[1]		1,717,091,000	[1]	1,706,171,000	[1]				161,440,000	162,665,000	26,300,000	26,400,000
Stated interest rate of MCF revenue bond	7.75%			7.75%				8.47%	8.47%
Not consolidated owned joint venture in United kingdom	50.00%
Issued share capital																		100
Ownership percentage in South African Custodial Services Pty. Limited	50.00%														50.00%
Life term of contract															25 years
Reduction of government guarantee in case of default	80.00%
Equity Method Investments															7,300,000	5,600,000	2,900,000
Issued share capital divided in no. of share																	100	100
Par value of share issued																		£ 1
Amount including accrued interest under line of credit																	16,800,000
Loss from GEO Amey's operations	748,000		662,000														500,000
Number of facilities purchased from Cornell	11
Directors appointed to board by each party	3
Variable Interest Entities (Textual) [Abstract]
Term period of non-recourse bonds of the Company				10 years
Reminder base term of leased assets	20 years
Maximum period to which lease renewed	25 years
Lines of credit provided by GEO UK and Amey	$ 19,200,000			$ 19,200,000														£ 12,000,000

[1] Variable interest entities or “VIEs”