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The reform movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries mark a pivotal period in the evolution of correctional systems in the United States, notably influenced by the contrasting Auburn and Pennsylvania models. The Auburn system, emphasizing congregate labor and enforced silence, left an indelible mark on the landscape of prison labor.
BBC (London, England), 2009. This video documentary covers the February 2 and 3, 1980 riot at the New Mexico State Penitentiary. During this riot, the worst in the history of corrections in the United States, 33 inmates were killed with over 200 injured, and seven of the 12 officers taken hostage hurt. Document ID: 026908.
From the efforts at the Walnut Street Jail and Newgate Prison, two competing systems of imprisonment emerged in the United States by the 1820s. The "Auburn" (or "Congregate System") emerged from New York's prison of the same name between 1819 and 1823. [110] And the "Pennsylvania" (or "Separate System") emerged in that state between 1826 and ...
- Ancient Times
- Medieval Times
- The Rise of Nations
- Colonial and Early Post-Revolutionary Periods
- The Reform Movement
- Elmira Reformatory
- Prison Reform in The Early Twentieth Century
- Prisons as Workplaces
- Rehabilitation Model
- Community Corrections
Many ancient cultures allowed the victim or a member of the victim's family to deliver justice. The offender often fled to his or her family for protection. As a result, blood feuds developed in which the victim's family sought revenge against the offender's family. Sometimes the offender's family responded by striking back. Retaliation could conti...
As in ancient times, medieval Europe had very harsh punishments. Torture and death were commonly administered. From the depths of the "Dark Ages" came cruel instruments that tortured as they killed. For example, the rack stretched its victims until their bodies were torn apart. The Iron Maiden—a box thickly set with sharp spikes inside and on the i...
In Europe in the 1500s, while most jails still housed people waiting for trial or punishment, work-houses and debtors' prisons developed as sources of cheap labor or places to house insane or minor offenders. Those found guilty of serious crimes could be transported instead of executed. England transported many prisoners to colonial Georgia in the ...
Just as in Europe, physical punishment was common in colonial America. Americans used stocks, pillories, branding, flogging, and maiming—such as cutting off an ear or slitting nostrils—to punish offenders. The death penalty was used frequently. In 1636 the Massachusetts Bay Colony listed thirteen crimes that warranted execution, including murder, p...
The idea of individual freedom and the concept that people could change society for the better by using reason permeated American society in the 1800s. Reformers worked to abolish slavery, secure women's rights, and prohibit liquor, as well as to change the corrections system.
The superintendent of the Elmira Reformatory in New York, Zebulon Brockway (1827–1920), used some of these ideas when New York opened the reformatory in 1876 for male offenders sixteen to thirty years old. Brockway believed that rehabilitation could be achieved through education. Inmates who did well in both academic and moral subjects earned early...
By 1900 Brockway's correctional philosophy had spread throughout the nation. Nonetheless, by World War I(1914–18), the idea of using educational and rehabilitative approaches was being replaced by the use ofstrict discipline. The way the facilities were built, the lack of trained personnel, and the attitudes of the guards made Brockway's ideas diff...
Despite the efforts of reformers, most societies prefer that prisons pay their own way. To do this, prison administrators have at times constructed factories within prison walls or hired inmates out as laborers in "chain gangs." In rural areas inmates worked on prison-owned farms. In the Southprisoners—predominantly African-American—were often leas...
The rehabilitation model of corrections began in the 1930s and reached its high point in the 1950s. Qualified staff members were expected to diagnose the cause of an offender's criminal behavior, prescribe a treatment to change the individual, and determine when that individual had become rehabilitated. Group therapy, counseling, and behavior modif...
In response to an increase in crime during the 1960s, advocates of community corrections thought that rehabilitation needed to be done within the community, not in the prisons. They favored probation, educational courses, and job training. In 1965 the Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, a panel of experts on crime and the j...
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Mar 18, 2022 · Behind Bars: The Invention of Mass Incarceration. Free online event: March 23. Morgan Godvin and Ashley Rubin. Prisons were once considered a sign of progress, a victory for public health that was more humane than disease-ridden, overcrowded jails and the harsh physical punishments meted out on the town green.
Jan 19, 2022 · A correctional officer’s history of 19th century prisons and modern-day parallels. From Sing Sing to suicide watch, torture treads a fine line. The icon indicates free access to the linked research on JSTOR. The justice system of 17th and early 18th century colonial America was unrecognizable when compared with today’s.
Apr 25, 2024 · Prison is a complex and controversial topic that involves legal, social, and ethical issues. Learn about the history and facts of prison as an institution for detaining and punishing offenders, and explore the different types of prisons and their functions. Britannica provides a comprehensive and balanced overview of prison and its role in society.
