Prison System

Prison System

History

Prison is just one of a number of sanctions available to the courts to deal with those who commit criminal offences. Imprisonment today is the harshest sanction available, but this has not always been the case.

Prior to the 19th century, sanctions for criminal behaviour tended to be public events which were designed to shame the person and deter others; these included the ducking stool, the pillory, flogging, branding and the stocks. At the time the sentence for many other offences was death.

Ducking Stool - The offender was strapped into a sturdy chair, which was fastened to a long wooden beam fixed as a seesaw on the edge of a pond or stream, where the offender was immersed.

Pillory - The offender was placed on a wooden framework with holes for the head and hands, in which an offender was imprisoned and exposed to public abuse.

Stocks - The offender was placed on a wooden or metal device with foot holes used as punishment. The convicted individual was seated and had their feet and ankles locked into the device so that the legs were held out straight.

Flogging - In England the Whipping Act of 1530 authorized the whipping of thieves, blasphemers, poachers, men and women guilty of minor offenses, and even the insane. Victims were tied to the end of a cart until the 1590s, when the whipping post was introduced.

By the end of the 18th Century, beginning of the 19th Century ideas relating to penal reform were becoming increasingly popular thanks to the work of a few energetic reformers. Many of these ideas were related to the rehabilitation of offenders. Religious groups like the Quakers and the Evangelicals were highly influential in promoting ideas of reform through personal redemption.

During this time the sanction system saw the birth of the state prison. The Walnut Street Prison was a pioneering effort in prison reform. Originally built as a conventional jail just before the American Revolution, it was expanded in 1790 and hailed as a model of enlightened thinking about criminals. The prison, in fact, was known as a "penitentiary" (from the Latin word for remorse). It was designed to provide a severe environment that left inmates much time for reflection. The Walnut Street Prison was one of the forerunners of an entire school of thought on prison construction and reform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0oitRBPdQI

http://www.aetv.com/shows/beyond-scared-straight/video/losing-it-all

http://www.aetv.com/shows/beyond-scared-straight/video/jailed-juvenile

http://www.aetv.com/shows/beyond-scared-straight/video/teens-react-to-the-jail-tour

Prison vs Jail

A jail is a secure facility that houses three main types of inmates:

1.  People who have been arrested and are being held pending a plea agreement, trial, or sentencing;

2.  People who have been convicted of a misdemeanor criminal offense and are serving a sentence of (typically) less than 1 year; and

3.  People who have been sentenced to prison and are about to be transferred to another facility.

Jails are operated by a county or city government. Jails are also known as detention facilities. Lockups are facilities in smaller communities where one to a few arrestees can be held for a short time pending transfer to a nearby jail/detention center.

A prison is a secure facility that houses people who have been convicted of a felony criminal offense and are serving a sentence of (typically) 1 year or more.

Prisons are operated by the state or the federal government. “Penitentiary” is a synonym for prison.

In general, the definitions above hold true, however, there are exceptions in some states.

Why Prison?

In criminal justice punishment theory, people are sentenced to serve time in confinement for four basic reasons, some of which have greater proven efficacy than others. Below are these four reasons in order of efficacy, or effectiveness.

Rehabilitation - The concept of providing treatment (such as addiction treatment) and programs (such as education and job skills training) to boost the likelihood that an inmate will not return to crime when he or she is released back to the community.

Incapacitation - The concept that putting an offender in a secure facility prevents him/her from victimizing the public again.

Retribution - The concept that an offender who serves time is paying society back for the harm done in the crime.

Deterrence - The concept that knowing that someone else was punished for a crime will make another person less likely to commit the same crime.

Rehabilitation Programs in Prison

Education and work programs - The two most extensively used modes of treatment in American prisons are education and work programs.

Psychological/counseling programs - Other programs attempt to change underlying problems causing, or implicated in, an offender's criminality, drugs being a big player.

https://www.bop.gov/inmates/custody_and_care/docs/BOPNationalProgramCatalog.pdf

How is life in Prison?

Work - Inmates are assigned a job to perform 5 days a week. Jobs within the prison include working in the kitchen, laundry room, prison store, cleaning the grounds, etc. Inmates can also work for UNICOR, which is a governmental agency that offers jobs to inmates to help prepare them for life outside of prison . Inmates get paid depending on the time they work and their rank.

http://www.unicor.gov/about_fpi_programs.aspx

Money - The money earned through labor gets deposited into an account which can be used to buy items such as shampoo, tuna, etc in the prison store. Inmates do have a maximum they can spend a month. Family is allowed to deposit funds in their accounts as well. Aside from money, inmates use food to pay other inmates for services such as legal advice, or laundry.

Communication - Inmates do have access to email and phone calls for a price. Emails are monitored for content by an independent company.

You can read an interview with an inmate

http://fortune.com/2014/07/07/matthew-kluger-talks/