The Auburn System: The Role Of Rehabilitation In Prisons

Many offenders who are released from prison encounter many obstacles which hinder their progress towards community re-entry. On their own, many fail to secure employment, housing, or complete education or training programs. Without guidance or assistance many offenders return to crime to support themselves. Fortunately there are number of organizations that see the need for services to assist offenders on their path back into the community. One such organization that has proven to be successful is the Safer Foundation.

The United States prison system is considered today to be one of the most flawed and corrupt systems of the modern world. Given this fact, it is unsurprising that one of the most talked about issues in the US today is prison reform. Prison reform is a phrase which refers to the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, establishing a more effective penal system, or implementing alternatives to incarceration. The US has spent the past twenty years gradually working to improve its prisons, and even recently strives to better the federal and state prison system as a whole. One of the main goals of prison reform is reducing recidivism, which is the chance of an incarcerated person re-offending. One of the main ways to do this is to give inmates ways to spend their time that will better them and prepare them to re-enter society as a fully productive, rehabilitated citizen. This facet of prison reform is the basis for the Prison Reform and Redemption Act of 2017. This bill, which was to be reviewed on Wednesday, April 25 but is

Community corrections is continually changing and has been for the past one hundred years. From the early to mid-twentieth century onward it has used three major models, the medical model, community model, and the crime control model. The major turning point for the American community corrections system that led to corrections as we know it today was in 1974 when What Works? - Questions and Answers About Prison Reform by Martinson was published. The system changed practically overnight across the nation. The notion of rehabilitating offenders was dismissed and a more punitive “lock them up and throw away the key” mentality took over. Presently the corrections system is still working in the crime control model, but professionals are trying to restructure how we deal with criminal offenders during and after incarceration. The difficulty in the restructuring is finding the balance between punishing criminal offenders proportionate to their crime, but also rehabilitating them to be productive members of society once they are released so that they do not recidivate.

Nationally, every 7 minutes, another person enters prison. And every 14 minutes, someone returns to the streets, beaten down and, more often than not, having suffered a great amount of violence during his or her incarceration. Professionals will tell you that incarceration really does very little to stop crime, but we go on spending billions of dollars in order to lock up more and more people. We have become the country with the highest incarceration rate in the industrialized world. (National Criminal Justice Commission)

By the lack of rehabilitation programs in the state and federal prison systems, the chances of convicts releasing and returning back to prison increases rapidly. The lack of rehabilitation is one of the most leading causes to an offenders relapse or to a new crime that will be committed within 3 years from the offender’s release. A rehabilitation program

As a country, we should care about all of our citizens and work toward bettering them, because we are only as strong as our weakest link. When it concerns the issue of corrections it should not be a discussion of punishment or rehabilitation. Instead, it should be a balance of both that puts the spotlight on rehabilitating offenders that are capable and willing to change their lives for the better. Through rehabilitation a number of issues in the corrections field can be solved from mental health to overcrowding. More importantly, it allows offenders the chance to do and be better once released from prison. This paper analyzes what both rehabilitation and punishment are as well as how they play a part in corrections. It also discusses the current reasons that punishment as the dominant model of corrections is not as effective as rehabilitation. After explaining rehabilitation and punishment, then breaking down the issues with punishment, I will recommend a plan for balance. A plan that will lower incarceration rates and give offenders a second chance.

Community Based Corrections programs, also known as halfway houses or Residential Reentry facilities, were established as an alternative for prisoners to complete their term of incarceration in a community setting. Residential Reentry facilities provide a structured environment for low, minimum, and high-risk offenders while allowing them to integrate back into society. Specifically, Residential Reentry facilities provide offenders the opportunity to gain employment, establish financial responsibility, and obtain suitable housing. With the overcrowding of prisons, the ability to participate in Community Based Correction programs enables the convicted criminals as well as prison staff to lessen the loads that come with working in a prison as well as improve the lifestyle that comes with incarceration. As with all things in life, there are positive as well as negative outcomes to the participation of these convicted criminals in community-based programs. In viewing the positive and negative outcomes, the end

In America, crime rates are going up and prisoners are being released from prison with a wrong sense of direction resulting in their finding themselves back behind bars within a short period of time after being released for an action that could have been prevented if the proper precautions had been taken. Prisons need to put forth the effort to resolve these issues and make America’s streets secure again. The criminal justice system in prisons is a rising concern in this country that is affecting many and it is time it was improved by reforming the inside of prisons, providing prisoners with more when released, and keeping them under surveillance after release to help ensure they will not return to prison, thus keeping crime at a lower rate.

One major problem of prison overcrowding is the effect it has on prison organizational stability. The more prisoners and people put in jail have made it harder for prison guards and staff to monitor and control them. The entire prison system must make enormous changes in order to accommodate for the number of inmates versus the number of prison guards (O’Leary). This often results in a misclassification of offenders. Many who come through the system are classified based on the amount of space available instead of on the security level and programs that would be most suitable for them (Howard). “It is not uncommon to find inmates, classified as medium security, incarcerated in maximum security institutions, while other inmates are in medium security who were previously considered candidates for maximum security” (Howard). Misclassifying offenders often leads to “slow progress through the corrections system as well as a slow exit” (Howard). This in turn only prolongs and increases the overcrowding problem (Howard). The corrections programs should be reformed to meet the needs of the inmates rather than the inmates having to adjust to meet the requirements of the system. Offenders need to be on specific rehabilitation programs that are customized to fit their needs, such as alcohol and drug abuse programs and so forth.

The differences between the Pennsylvania and Auburn systems are that the Auburn prisons were way cheaper than Pennsylvania's. Pennsylvania system housed two inmates together to work and provide more goods to sell, whereas Auburn systems would allow the inmates to come and work together during the day which allowed them to provide way more goods than Pennsylvania. Auburns system was cheaper and not many inmates experienced mental health problems, but because Pennsylvania kept the inmates isolated, many of them became mentally ill.

     The idea of sentencing a criminal for a period of time in a prison isn't working, so prisons should focus more on changing their rehabilitation programs. Life in prison should be like the outside world as much as possible, given the fact of imprisonment. Prisoners would be less prepared if the prison environment is artificial and abnormal compared to the outside world they will have to encounter later on. A prisoner also needs to keep family ties. Research in

The Auburn State Prison was built in 1816, occupied in 1821 and soon after became the model for succeeding American prisons. Quaker thinking, in that "repentance for one's wrongs was best attained through private contemplation, which was facilitated by the penitentiary concept", influenced the Auburn prison. (Carney,

One major concern is the quality of rehabilitation the inmates receive while they are incarcerated. The question to ask is “Are our prisoners being properly rehabilitated?”

The Auburn system focused on production through congregate work and harsh discipline. While the Pennsylvania system focused on repentance through solitary confinement, reading the Bible, and reflecting on one’s sin ( Mays, G. & Winfree, L., 2008)..The key elements in both the Auburn and Pennsylvania systems were solitary confinement and silence. The Pennsylvania system isolated offenders in individual cells. The Auburn system had offenders in cells for a limited part of the day and focused more on production, rather than isolation. The Auburn system won out because it was adaptable and profitable at the same time; whereas, the Pennsylvania system spent more money by building individual cells for isolation. Furthermore, too much isolation led

(Encyclopedia, 1986) Under this type of sentencing, an offender received a specific amount of time to serve in prison for a specific crime. (Encyclopedia, 1986) This actually created a major problem when prisons became overcrowded. (Encyclopedia, 1986) The governors were forced to issue mass pardons or the prison wardens had to randomly release offenders to make space for new entering prisoners. (Encyclopedia, 1986) Then in 1840, Captain Alexander Maconochie was appointed governor of the notorious English penal colony at Norfolk Island off the coast of Australia. (Encyclopedia, 1986) Maconochie came up with a system that he issued “marks” to encourage more positive behavior and let inmates serve their sentences in stages, which each increasing in responsibility. The final stage was a ticket of leave. (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) The final stage of his system was a ticket of leave, the graduated release. (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) “Later, influenced by Maconochie, Sir Walter Crofton established the “Irish mark system” in which inmates could earn early release by positive behavior.” (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) The four stages of graduated release that he created were solitary confinement, special prison, open institution, and ticket of leave. (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) “The Irish system was well received, appeared to have low rates of recidivism, and penologists from the United States began to urge bringing these ideas of graduated release to the United States.” (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) But indeterminate sentence and the use of parole was not recognized and adopted across the U.S until 1944. (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg.