Reform And Repression: Imprisonment In Weimar Germany

Bruce Western’s, Punishment and Inequality in America, discusses the era of the “Prison Boom” that occurs from 1970-2003—when incarceration rates climbed almost five times higher than they had been in the twentieth century—while stating the effects and consequences that mass imprisonment created within the United States penal system. By discussing the disparities of incarceration between sex, age, race and education level, and how post-incarceration affects opportunities such as marriage and high-waged employment. Western provides an analysis of how the risk of incarceration accumulates over an individual’s lifespan.

Imprisonment is one of the primary ways in which social control may be achieved; the Sage Dictionary of Criminology defines social control as a concept used to describe all the ways in which conformity may be achieved. Throughout time imprisonment and its ideas around social control have varied. Imprisonment has not always been used for punishment, nor has it always thought about the prisoners themselves. However when looking at imprisonment it is important to consider the new penology. Therefore, it needs to be clear what the new penology is. The new penology is said, not to be about punishing individuals or about rehabilitating them, but about identifying and managing unruly groups in society. It is concerned with the managerial

But, in seeking this goal, they sacrificed the prisoners’ liberty within the prison to the extent they went insane. Solitary confinement and beatings are two examples of the terrible conditions. The search for finding a way cure deranged men led to unjust treatment against democratic ideals even though the reformers were trying to improve their lives.

In the sharp contrast, the European system of treating the deviants is vastly different in the beliefs and methods. In Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, (Doleschal, 1977) they believe that the treatment is better than the prison or death. For example, the Netherlands has “ 18 persons per 100,000 population, 1/12 of the U.S. rate of 215 per 100,000”(Doleschal, p.52) which is amazing if it did happen in America. The reason for abolishing prisons’ conditions is that the environment of the isolation and deprivation did harm than good to the prisoners and created the cycles of violence. In Denmark and Sweden, Doleschal illustrated the humane conditions that Europe preferred in the prisons,

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

Prison is an important place, because it takes away the power from individuals. This means that the criminal is no longer acting upon his will, but that of the officers, judge, guards, etc. “They are the foundation of society, and an element in its equilibrium.” (215) All the techniques, when created, they “attained a level at which formation of knowledge and the increase of power regularly reinforce the other.” (216)

In part 3, Morris (2002, p.171) discusses why prison conditions matter and why penal reformers, including himself, have devoted their lives and travelled thousands of miles

Prison reform was a viable aspect of the Reform Movements in the 1800s. Reformers wanted to evidently punish prisoners but they also wanted to make sure they maintained a sense of humanity. They did this by reconstructing prison systems, seeking ways to treat the mentally ill and more. Document A highlights the importance of good treatment to prisoners in order for them to be rescued and eventually work to become viable members of society. This document

The Fourth Annual Report stated that prisons should separate the young from the old, as well as educate the prisoners with religious instruction (Document A). These reforms stem from rehabilitation as opposed to punishments. By teaching the prisoners how to live good lives, they would be able to succeed in society after serving their time. Rejoining society increases democratic ideals by keeping them out of prison in the future, thus increasing voters and bettering future society members. Another part of the prison reforms included the destruction of debtors prisons. Lower class members who could not pay off debts were put into prison, losing the ability to vote for the time being. This produced unequal elections. By removing debtor prisons, a more equal expansion of voting was able to take place. Stemming from prison reforms, progress was also made with the mentally ill. Previously, the mentally ill, which included a range from mentally disabled to depressed, were seen as embarrassments. Led by Dorothea Dix, improvements were made in the treatment of the mentally ill in asylums. Reformers informed the public of the horrible conditions of the asylums, in their fight for better treatment. They wanted the mentally ill to gain a more equal role in

To understand the radical nature of the penitentiary movement, it is first essential to understand the ideology to which the penitentiary system was a reply. In ages past, crime was viewed largely within the paradigm of retribution. For example, the classical theorist of criminology Cesare Beccaria viewed the decision to commit or not commit a crime as a purely rational calculus. This meant that punishments had to be fairly severe as a deterrent. Criminals were not seen as fundamentally different from you or I, and 'reform' was accomplished solely by a rational calculus of pain versus pleasure. Beccaria believed "individuals possess freewill, rational manner and manipulability 名ith the right punishment or threat the criminal justice system can control the freewilled and

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

Before World War II, few of the members who made up Police Battalion 101 were not soldiers, officer, but came from simple backgrounds such as businessmen, dockworkers, machine operators, teachers, truck drivers, etc. Only a small percentage of the Police Battalion 101 was even part of the Nazi party prior to World War II. As the Final Solution in Poland went on, and more and more Jews were being massacred every day, many members of the battalion began to question themselves, and if what they were doing was wrong. The few soldiers who refused shooting were labeled as weak, and traitors to Germany, this was

This paper explores the advantages of the German correctional system and the changes that could be made to the current American system to improve its efficiency. Several different comparison studies as well as statistics obtained from credible online sources aid in highlighting the advantages of three key components of the German penal system which make it more successful in crime inhibition and recidivism prevention than the current American counterpart. Reintegration and rehabilitation as the primary aspect in a judge’s choice of verdict are discussed first, following the availability and condition of programs existing in prison for offenders that have been sentenced to incarceration, as well as the ongoing care and help available for

There were various factors that contributed to the failure of the Weimar Republic of Germany and the ascent of Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers Party into power on January 30, 1933. Various conflicting problems were concurrent with the eventuation of the Republic that, from the outset, its first governing body the socialist party (SPD) was forced to contend with.

Prison at the time was a place where the penitentiary would use the criminals as basically slaves of the state. They would work them day in and day out. There were problems of overcrowding, sexual abuse, and disease. How was one supposed to learn from their mistakes and realize what they did was wrong when they were just worked to death at the prisons? How is that supposed to help reform a person into being better?