Aims and Development of the Penal System Within the Uk over the Past 200 Years.

The Walnut Street prison, which was the first prison, built in 1790 was a prototype for other prisons to be built over the next 30 years. By the year 1817 the prison began to deteriorate. Changes and overcrowding of prisoners in one room pushed Pennsylvania legislature to build more prisons. In 1817 two more prisons where built, one in eastern and one in western Pennsylvania. They built these prisons with separate cell areas, so each inmate could be kept alone, eliminating all the problems of congregate living. The idea of having separate cells did not originate in America. "Of course the notion of forcibly confining people is ancient and there is extensive evidence that the Romans had a well-developed system for imprisoning different types of offenders." (Meskelly).

While ‘Crisis’ may seem like an over-exaggerated term to describe the current state of the penal system, it emphasises the clear difficulties and potential dangers that which the penal system is facing. Factors related to a penal crisis include overcrowding, a breakdown of control, bad prison conditions, understaffing and a loss of security (Cavadino and Dignan, 2002).

Throughout the years, the use of imprisonment has varied, along with its influences of society. It is thought that although prisons have been around since the thirteenth century, prisons as we know them now to be have only been around for the last three centuries. The first uses of prisons were not seen as a form of punishment instead they were used as a way of making people do something. People would be held in prison until they paid their debts, or awaiting trial and then leading up to their sentence. McGowen (1995) suggests that from the early 1700s ‘bridewells’ a house of correction have existed, however at that time being used merely for vagrants and drunks. At the end of the sixteenth century there was a shift in punishment to imprisonment, along with this came a new, more humane idea of reform. Criminals would spend their days of prison carrying out hard labour. However after the American Revolution, imprisonment took a step back and there was another change. There was mass overcrowding within the prison service and although the death penalty was still being used it was a symbol of the power of the state. Therefore, an everyday way of dealing with offenders would be transportation to the colonies, being either Australia or America.

The Penitentiary Era 1790 to 1825 mass prison building era housed many prisoners with the goals of rehabilitation; deterrence and allowing the inmates to work during the day and when they returned were put into solitary confinement (Ortmeier 2006, 391). This new era was too focused on making prisoners think about their crimes and learn skills in workshops and general labor to reenter society as a productive member. Capital and corporal punishment were looked down upon by many and they did not actually fix the problems of rising crime. Often time’s prisoners were held in a large jail cells, men and women alike that resulted in rape and fighting among each other. The strengths of this era looked to keep prisoners safe and at times lessen

The ideal of imprisonment did not exist during the colonial time. The penitentiary system was a nineteenth-century invention. The colonial, period was hierarchical, and the servants were supposed to be kept in place.

There can be no doubt that the penal system in the United Kingdom is in crisis. With prisons already overcrowded, the criminal courts continue to imprison offenders at an alarming rate. There are several good reasons for this occurrence, but to explain the crisis, there is a need to delve into the various factors that combine together to create the problem. This report will take a critical look at the problem using the Orthodox Account and again using the Radical Pluralism Account in order to explain why the latter is better than the former.

The concept of the prison has existed for more than two thousand years. It probably goes back as far in time as practice of cannibalism, where victims had to wait for their turn in contributing to the chief course in the menu of their captors. Examples of prisons can even be found in the Old Testament when Joseph was incarcerated in Egypt. It was not until the 19th century that a clear shift occurred from corporal punishment to imprisonment. As societies prospered and the industrial revolution began, the formal prison system, as we know it today, developed. Throughout most of the world, the correctional system is administered by the state, and it is considered a key function that the government must fulfill: protect its citizens by

The prison system in England and Wales could reasonably be described as being in crisis. Discuss.

Parole was originally designed in the mid-1800s as an alternative to incarceration when it became apparent that incarceration was unsatisfactorily effective at preventing further criminal behaviour by offenders (Travis, 1995). It was agreed that a system of reform would prove more effective than imprisonment when it came to producing law-abiding citizens. While parole has its origins in America, it underwent revision on Norfolk Island in a British penal colony operated by Alexander Maconochie, now referred to as the “father of parole”. This system, where prisoners were allowed increasing levels of freedom and other benefits in reward for good behaviour and productivity, laid the groundwork for the modern parole system in use today, though there have been modifications made in response to changing political and economic situations, as well as legal challenges.

Prisons in America have been around for many years. They have been around since the 1600’s. The prisons in the 1600’s were small local jails for people who were waiting for trial. Punishment for people who went to jail during this time were executed, tortured and penalized. In the late 1600’s the death penalty was allowed for those who committed a murder.

American prison system incarceration was not officially used as the main form of punishment in United States (U.S.) until around the 1800’s. Before that time criminals were mainly punished by public shaming, which involved punishments such as being whipped, or branded (HL, 2015). In fact, President Lincoln codified the prison incarceration system in the Emancipation Proclamation that indicated no slavery would take place in America unless a person was duly convicted of a crime (paraphrased) (White, 2015). In this era prisons were used more as a place where criminals could be detained until their trial date if afforded such an opportunity. However, one of the main problems with this idea was the fact that the prisons were badly maintained, which resulted in many people contracting fatal diseases. Yet, according to White (2015) unethical and immoral medical experiments were also conducted on inmates’ leading to health failures. Moreover, because everyone was detained in the same prisons, adolescent offenders would have to share the same living space with adult felons, which became another serious problem in that adolescent were less mature and could not protect themselves in such environments

In considering the jails, as well as state and federal prisons, and in modern America, one must understand the historical contexts in which the three institutions were conceptualized and put into practice. Then a discussion of the reasons behind the drastic recent growth off these three ancient institutions must be had. Finally, a review of the security classifications which enable these facilities to carry out the business of incarceration and rehabilitation in a secure and safe manner should be conducted to round out our consideration of these ancient institutions. The role of jails and prisons is a complicated one, made more

Victorian Era Prison Punishments Have you ever felt over punished before? Throughout 1837 up to 1901, there were over 15 million receptions into Great Britain’s prisons. At the same time, between 1842 and 1877, 90 prisons were built in the same country. With the increasing crime number, governments wanted a way to stop them from doing it ever again. They did it as a way to say,”Hey!

The author, Samuel Johnson responds to an amount of comments on a letter he sent to a British Lawmaker. He analyses the concept of a debtor’s jail. He criticizes the corruptness of the debtor’s prison. He provides facts on the amount of deaths in the jail. The author’s points are well supported and I agree with his claims.

The pains of being imprisoned in addition to the collateral consequences of being in a controlled setting are important consideration to the initial concept of penal harm. There is a great deal