Chapter 11 Corrections: History, Institutions, and Populations

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Chapter 11Corrections History, Institutions,
and Populations
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Learning Objectives

• Understand the meaning of the term the new
  penology
• Be able to explain how the first penal
  institutions developed in Europe
• Explain how William Penn revolutionized
  corrections
• Compare the New York and Pennsylvania prison
  models
• Chart the development of penal reform

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Learning objectives

• Know how parole developed
• List the purposes of jails and be familiar with
  the make-up of jail populations
• Be familiar with the term new generation jail
• Classify the different types of federal and state
  penal institutions
• Discuss prison population trends

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History of Correctional Institutions

• 10th Century England Prisons
• Used to detain debtors, unemployed, or those
  awaiting trial
• 12th Century England
• County jails were constructed to hold thieves and
  vagrants before the disposition of their sentence
• 1301 - Le Stinche prison in Italy
• Punishment was incarceration
• Separate cells
• Segregated by age, gender, mental state, and
  seriousness of the crime

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History of Correctional Institutions

• 1557
• The Brideswell workhouse was built to hold those
  convicted of relatively minor offenses serious
  offenders were held there pending execution
• 1780s
• English housed prisoners on hulks (abandoned
  ships anchored in harbors)
• Incarceration did not become the norm until 19th
  century

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History of Correctional Institutions

• The Origin of Corrections in the United States
• The modern American correctional system actually
  started in Pennsylvania under the leadership of
  William Penn
• Early seventeenth century
• The first American jail was built in James City,
  Virginia
• 1773
• Newgate Prison opened in Connecticut
• 1775
• Castle Island Prison opened in Massachusetts

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History of Correctional Institutions

• The Development of Prisons
• William Penns code for prisons was adopted, and
  a group of Quakers formed the Philadelphia
  Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public
  Prisons
• The aim of the Society was to bring some degree
  of humane and orderly treatment to the growing
  penal system
• The only models of custodial institutions at that
  time were the local county jails that Penn had
  established

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History of Correctional Institutions

• The Development of Prisons
• In 1790, the Pennsylvania legislature called for
  renovation of the prisoner system. A new wing of
  the Walnut Street Jail was installed
• The legislation ushered in ten years of reform
  and attracted worldwide notice
• The Walnut Street Jail was not a total success
  overcrowding undermined the goal of solitary
  confinement and soon more than one inmate was
  housed in each cell

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History of Correctional Institutions

• The New York and Pennsylvania Systems
• Both experienced challenges in maintaining
  ever-increasing numbers of convicted criminals
• 1816 New York built a new prison at Auburn
• Many features used in these prisons systems are
  still in use today

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History of Correctional Institutions

• The Auburn System
• Tier system
• Congregate system
• The philosophy of the Auburn prison system was
  crime prevention through fear of punishment and
  silent confinement
• Silence and solitude was seen as key
• Regimentation became a standard mode of prison
  life
• Inmates congregate for eating and for work

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History of Correctional Institutions

• The Pennsylvania System
• Pennsylvania took the radical step of
  establishing a prison that isolated each inmate
  in a single cell for the duration of his sentence
• The new Pennsylvania State Prison opened in 1826
  and was called the Western Penitentiary
• Its inmates were housed in solitary confinement
  being allowed out about one hour per day

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Pennsylvania vs. New York System
Prison Structure Living Activity Discipline
Auburn System Tiered Cells Congregate Group Work Silence, Harsh punishment
Pennsylvania System Single cells set in semicircle Isolated In-cell work, Bible Study Silence, Harsh Punishment
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History of Correctional Institutions

• Prisons of the Nineteenth Century
• The tier system was adopted in all states but
  Pennsylvania
• Prisons were overcrowded and the single cell
  principle was often ignored
• Prison brutality common
• Development of prison industry
• Contract system
• Convict-lease system
• Prison farms

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History of Correctional Institutions

• Reform Efforts
• The National Congress Penitentiary and
  Reformatory Discipline, held in Cincinnati in
  1870, heralded a new era of prison reform
• Experts called for the treatment, education, and
  training of inmates
• Elmira Reformatory (Zebulon Brockway) in New
  York, individualized treatment, the indeterminate
  sentence, and parole

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History of Correctional Institutions

• Prisons of the Twentieth Century
• Time of contrast in the U.S. prison system
• Advocate of reform, rehabilitation, education,
  religion
• Development of specialized prisons
• Industrial prisons for hard-core inmates
• Agricultural prisons for non dangerous offenders
• Institutions for criminally insane
• Prison industry evolved

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History of Correctional Institutions

• Contemporary Correctional Institutions
• 1960s-1970s
• Prisoners rights movement
• Prison riots
• The medical model emerged
• 1980s
• Inmate violence and gangs emerge
• Control of inmates essential
• Incapacitation
• Punishment rather than rehabilitation

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History of Correctional Institutions

• Contemporary Correctional Institutions
• Today
• Attempts to improve prison conditions
• Tighten discipline
• Build new super-maximum security prisons to house
  extremely violence inmates
• Prison overcrowding has stalled improvement
  attempts

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Jails

• Five Purposes
• Detain accused offenders who cannot make bail
• Hold convicted offenders awaiting sentence
• Confinement for those convicted of misdemeanors
• Hold probationers and parolees arrested for
  violations and waiting for a hearing
• House felons when state prisons are overcrowded

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Jails

• Jail Populations and Trends
• By 2010, 750,000 jail inmates
• 9 out of 10 inmates are adult males
• 40 white
• African American are nearly 5x more likely than
  whites to have been in jail
• 7,500 minors held in adults jails each day
• Minorities are over represented in inmate
  population

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Jails

• Jail Conditions
• Jails are usually a low priority in the criminal
  justice system
• Jails are usually administered at the county
  level
• Jails in some counties are physically
  deteriorated, holding inmates that have serious
  emotional problems
• Jails are considered a revolving door of the
  justice system

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Jails

• New Generation Jails
• A building boom is underway to alleviate
  overcrowding and improve effectiveness
• Direct-supervision
• Allow for continuous observation of inmates
• Indirect-supervision
• Allow for continuous observation of inmates, but
  using communication devices from secure rooms

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Types of Prisons

• Maximum Security Prisons
• House the most notorious offenders
• Fortress-like with high walls and guard towers
• High tech security measures
• Armed guards
• Super-Maximum-Security-Prisons (Super-Max)
• These house the most predatory offenders
• Inmates are locked up for 22 to 24 hours per day
  

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Types of Prisons

• Medium-Security Prisons
• Similar in appearance to maximum-security
• The conditions are less vigilant and less tense
  than maximum security facilities
• Promote treatment efforts and allows freedom of
  movement

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Prisons

• Minimum-Security Prisons
• Operate without armed guards and walls
• House the most trustworthy and least violent
  offenders
• These facilities have dormitories or small
  private rooms for inmates
• Freedom of movement
• Utilize work furloughs and educational/vocational
  training

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Alternative Correctional Institutions

• In addition to prisons and jails, a number of
  other correctional facilities are opening within
  the United States
• Prison farms and camps
• Shock incarceration in boot camps
• Community correctional facilities
• Private prisons

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Inmate Populations

• Overview
• The vast correctional system now contains over
  1.6 million inmates
• 1 in 31 adults in America is under correctional
  system supervision
• 90 inmates are young, male, minority, and poor
• 1 in 36 Hispanic men incarcerated
• 1 in 12 African American men incarcerated
• Inmates suffer from social problems, emotional
  problems, and psychological problems

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Imprisonment Rate, 1980-2009
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Inmate Populations

• Growth Trends
• Between 1980 and 2006 population skyrocketed,
  today the numbers have stabilized or declined
  slightly
• 1/3 of inmates are held on parole violations
• Mandatory sentences are holding prisoners longer
• The nations prison population may be maxing out
• High prison costs have compelled states to
  utilize cheaper community supervision
  alternatives