Debt (Details Textual 1)	2 Months Ended	6 Months Ended							6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		2 Months Ended						6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2012 USD ($) facility		Jan. 01, 2012 USD ($)		Jul. 01, 2012 Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 01, 2012 Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2012 Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2012 GEO Amey [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2012 GEO Amey [Member] GBP (£)	Jul. 01, 2012 Non Recourse Debt Northwest Detention Center [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 09, 2011 Non Recourse Debt 2011 Revenue Bonds [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2012 MCFs Non Recourse Debt [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2012 MCFs Non Recourse Debt [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2012 MCFs Non Recourse Debt [Member] USD ($)	Oct. 02, 2011 MCFs Non Recourse Debt [Member]	Jul. 01, 2012 Senior Note Due 2017 [Member]	Jul. 01, 2012 Senior Notes Due 2021 [Member]	Jul. 01, 2012 Taxable Revenue Bonds STLDC [Member]	Jul. 01, 2012 Subordinate Notes STLDC [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2012 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt [Member] AUD	Jul. 01, 2012 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2012 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2012 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt [Member] AUD	Jul. 01, 2012 South Texas Detention Complex Carrying Value [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 24, 2012 Municipal Corrections Finance, L.P. [Member] USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Variable Interest Entity Ownership Percentage in Joint Venture		50.00%
Debt (Textual) (Abstract)
Aggregate principal amount of taxable revenue bonds											$ 57,000,000														$ 49,500,000
Bonds fixed coupon rates minimum											4.00%								4.76%
Bonds fixed coupon rates maximum											4.10%								5.07%
Subordinated notes receivable from STLDC						5,200,000														5,000,000
Payment from restricted cash for the current portion of periodic debt service requirement							5,000,000				0
Long-term Debt, Gross						22,400,000								19,700,000
Current Portion of Non recourse Debt											6,300,000			15,800,000	15,800,000
Long-Term Debt		1,298,030,000		1,319,068,000								54,400,000
Current restricted cash											9,300,000									6,300,000
Non current restricted cash											3,300,000									12,300,000		5,100,000
Notes bear interest at a rate		7.75%										6.40%		8.47%		8.47%	7.75%	6.625%
Number of Facilities Purchased From Cornell		11
Non-recourse debt		198,995,000	[1]	208,532,000	[1]	101,730,000		108,335,000						77,900,000	77,900,000						36,500,000	37,400,000	40,300,000	39,500,000
Net premium of non-recourse debt														6,800,000	8,300,000
Debt service reserve fund balance														23,800,000
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage																										100.00%
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid																										27,000,000
Escrow Deposit																										10,000,000
Interest rate terms																					variable rate quoted by certain Australian banks plus 140 basis points
Minimum value of restricted cash balance required to be maintained																					5,000,000
Ownership percentage in South African Custodial Services Pty. Limited		50.00%
Accrued interest included under line of credit									200,000
Lines of credit outstanding										12,100,000
Lines of credit facility									19,100,000
Lines of credit		18,900,000								12,000,000
Repayments of Long-term Debt													67,000,000
Redemption Premium													15,000,000
Gains (Losses) on Extinguishment of Debt	$ 8,000,000

[1] Variable interest entities or “VIEs”