Pros And Cons Of Which Period In American Corrections

Crime and the laws that are around are very different from the ones now. They were called acts back then. The worst one being the “Waltham Black Act” which was punished with death if received. But these crimes could only be carried out by Assize judges. But scores of offensive against rural property, from preaching hares to arson if criminal was armed or distinguished. The progressive reduction of capital punishment chooses in procedure that gave greater protection to defendants, the invention of the penitentiary which was a type of prison people were held at, were projects usually supported by the same men. These projects occurred multiple times and worked most of the time and were very useful. In the Pennsylvania legislature passed a bill recognizing the difference between first-degree murder (a deliberate and planned act to kill) that received the death penalty, and second-degree murder (an unplanned or accidental killing) that called for imprisonment. It was the first law of its kind calling for different levels of punishment for different kinds of murder. In the 1800s, this was very different from what they do. Usually the punishment was given no matter what the type of murder was done. There are similarities to now. Like for example death can still be given now, but it so rare for it to actually be done and it takes more than more than one murder or whatever the crime may be, unlike then when one was all it took. Another big thing that took place was torture.Torture was mainly given out to eyewitnesses or voluntary confessions that would not say anything, or that would not commit the crime. They had a act for this and it was called the European Law of Torture. Also, for about a millennium from the middle of

Change over time; that is a common theme with everything in the world. The concept of punishment is no different in that regard. In the 16th and 17th century the common view for punishing people was retaliation from the king and to be done in the town square. In what seemed to be all of a sudden, there was a change in human thinking, the concept of punishment changed to a more psychological approach compared to a public embarrassment/torture approach. The following paragraphs will discuss the development of prisons and what in fact gives people gives people the right to punish; as well as the overall meaning and function of prisons. The work by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison will help with the arguments

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 delivery of punishment has changed significantly over the centuries. Up until the 19th century in England, imprisonment was not regarded as a punishment, it was merely used while the offender waited to be sentenced to their ‘real’ punishment (Bull, 2010; Hirst, 1998). Corporal punishment such as flogging, branding and mutilation, death by hanging, and transportation to other continents such as America and Australia were common punitive measures through the ages, until well into the 1800’s (Newburn, 2003). Although these extreme penalties are no longer acceptable or practised by criminal courts in England or Australia, in some ways, the past has

The History of prisons goes through many eras. Many of these eras have a major impact on today’s prison system. The different was that the system worked and didn’t work really showed what was possibly and what should not be tried again. Each era tried to do something new are recreate something that had already been done by making changes to the way that they treated the inmates all the way to how they were housed and how much contact they had with one another. The different eras gave the present day prison system many great things to think about. Such as large capacity housing so you can properly use all the space in the prison and hold it to capacity. There is also the parole system that gives inmates a chance to work get out early and spend the rest of their sentence on the outside. These many great traits that the prison system today has all come from the hundreds of years of trial and error that occurred throughout the world.

One of the many things that has been highly controversial and still is to this very day is how to properly punish and treat criminals. Here in America we now have the Eighth Amendment to protect us from cruel and unusual punishment. This was based off of a Parliament Act of 1689 that created England’s Bill of Rights. Before England had come up with the idea that humans should have guaranteed basic rights, it wasn’t a matter of whether or not a criminal would die, as much as it was a matter of how they would die. Torture devices such as the guillotine, the stake, the brazen bull, and the rack were used to spread the idea of fear and punishment that was ineffectually used by leaders to try and control their people throughout the history of Europe.

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 criminal justice system is composed of four categories: law enforcement, legal counsel, courts, and corrections. I am going to focus on one of these subjects and the problems or issues that are within the corrections part of criminal justice usually refers to the events that occur after being sentenced in a court of law. During the past few decades many problems have arisen in this area, solutions have been discussed and put into use over the years as well. However, there are still problems that are being dealt with in today’s corrections.

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

Since a time before people can even remember there have been different types of ways to make people pay for their wrongdoings. Prior to the 19th century, prisons kept criminals in their grasp until the full punishment was ensued. Many time these punishments involved public humiliation, physical pain, and emotional pain. This kind of tactic went on until it was discovered to be more or less ineffective. (Aging Inmates) The Quakers attempted to make a different approach to trying the “fix” people. They started to use the techniques of religious teachings and solitary confinement to try to turn people around for the better. All the these techniques were used with consideration of the crimes that has been committed. (Aging Inmates) During the Victorian Era, the use of extreme physical labor became very popular. Audiences would come and watch as criminals had to undergo extreme physical

Crime in the 1800s consisted of murder, manslaughter, witchcraft, rape, and robbery. The policy back then was “guilty until proven innocent”(Medlin). This means that even if someone was falsely accused of a crime, it would be hard for them to prove their innocence. According to the article 19th century justice, in 1801 everything froze for thirteen weeks and the number of families applying for support rose sharply. This caused a decline in job openings and families began to break into houses close by in search for food and other necessities. Since these families were not making money the punishments for their crimes were significantly worse than if they had some money. According to

It has been discovered from multiple sources that ever since ancient times, punishment was a necessary concept in order to prevent crime or wrongdoings. Ancient laws such as the Code of Hammurabi and the Mosaic Law (or Law given to Moses atop Mt. Sinai) use different methods to attempt to prevent or minimize the unavoidable occurrence of crime. Hammurabi’s Code using retribution (e.g. an eye for an eye), and the Mosaic Law using fear of God’s judgement. Neither of these have proven to be very effective. Since the dawn of human law, new laws have emerged. others have been forgotten, and many have been refined. Logically, it would be impossible to rid society of all actions that harm another person, which means the controllers of our societies (corrupt governments backed by mega-corporations) must concoct a way to keep society from descending into chaos, while still retaining their bloated wallets. The first prisons came about almost immediately after the first sets of laws. In Ancient Greece, “Imprisonment as a penalty was used initially for those who could not afford to pay their fines. Eventually, since impoverished Athenians could not pay their fines, leading to indefinite periods of imprisonment, time limits were set instead” (Allen). For some odd reason, society has still not evolved from using the Machiavellian method of instilling fear in order to prevent rebellious acts. Our supposedly ‘wise and responsible leaders’ actually believe that by using isolation and

For centuries governments have acted on behalf of society removing and punishing criminals with the goal of protecting its citizens. Criminals were arrested and locked-up in jails awaiting their sentencing. Once sentenced, they were publically humiliated, tortured, or killed. Early forms punishments were cruel and mostly focused on retribution.

The corrections system in America began mostly with the arrival of William Penn and his “Great Law.” This was back in 1682; the “Great Law” was based on humane principals and also focused on hard labor as a punishment. The corrections system really began to take hold in North America in the late 1700’s with the idea’s and philosophy of Beccaria, Bentham, and Howard. These philosophies were based on the thought that prisoners could be treated and reformed back into society. This hard labor was used as an alternative to other cruel forms of punishments that were used in earlier times such as physical abuse or even brutal death.

To consider what corrections will look like in five years, one would have to start by looking at its history to start. During the 1700’s, the basic punishments were aimed more on the body than the mind; prisoners were whipped, publically humiliated in pillories, and subject to harsh labor; this way of punishment changed in the late 18th century with Benjamin Rush and the Quakers, who improved conditions for the prisoners housed in the “Walnut Street Jail” in Philadelphia (“History and Development of Corrections 1700-Present”, n.d). Also, the ideas of the Quakers was expanded upon with the development of the Pennsylvania System, which allowed prisoners to serve sentences in isolation or separate from others; this wasn’t a strong practice of corrections due to prisoners acting out and being driven insane due to the lack of socializing with others. The other major system was the Auburn System or the “congregate” system; this system was defined by inmates “serving in silence,” so that they wouldn’t corrupt other prisoners (“History and Development of Corrections 1700-Present”, n.d). The Auburn System failed due to harsh punishment being instilled