Correctional Systems Exam 1

Chapters 2-7

Defining feature of the Pennsylvania system at Eastern State Penitentiary

• Architecture: radical design (spokes from a central hub) → easy surveillance.

• Operational model: separate system → prisoners kept in total solitary confinement, no communication.

• Purpose: encourage reflection, repentance, and reform (hence the word penitentiary).

Tip: This system was based on Quaker ideals of isolation = penitence.

Why the Auburn (congregate) system became dominant

• Allowed group labor during the day, solitary at night.

• Strict silence rule enforced by corporal punishment.

• Produced goods cheaply → economic advantage.

• Easier to manage than total isolation (less mental breakdown).

Tip: Auburn = congregate but silent. Pennsylvania = separate and silent.

Correctional reformer who professionalized the United States Bureau of Prisons (BOP)

• Sanford Bates → first BOP director (1930).

• Professionalized staff (training, merit system), classification of inmates, built standardized federal prisons.

• Introduced better conditions and rehabilitation programs.

Tip: Connect to New Deal Era reforms → federal government stepped in to regulate corrections.

Influence of Auburn solitary experiment

• Early Auburn tried total solitary confinement, but inmates developed psychosis, suicides, physical illness.

• Lesson learned: harsh isolation is destructive → prisons shifted toward congregate labor with silence.

Tip: This failure foreshadows today’s debate over supermax and solitary confinement.

Hawes–Cooper Act (1929) & Ashurst–Sumners Act (1935, 1940)

• Hawes–Cooper: restricted interstate commerce of prison-made goods unless states allowed it.

• Ashurst–Sumners: made transporting prison goods across state lines a federal crime.

• Effect: reduced prison industries profitability and shifted prison work toward state-use systems and vocational training rather than private sales.

Primary missions of early corrections

• Retribution → “an eye for an eye.”

• Deterrence → punish to discourage others.

• Incapacitation → exile, mutilation, death.

Tip: In ancient times, punishment was tied to religion and supernatural beliefs (appeasing gods, divine justice).

Three purposes of punishment ideology

• Retribution (justice served).

• Deterrence (general and specific).

• Incapacitation (protecting society).

Tip: Deterrence assumes people are rational actors who weigh pain vs. pleasure (link to Cesare Beccaria).

Rehabilitation ideology during Enlightenment

• Belief: people are rational, can change with right environment.

• Led to education programs, vocational training, and therapy in prisons.

Tip: Enlightenment thinkers: Bentham’s utilitarianism and Beccaria’s deterrence theory are exam favorites.

Prevention ideology

• Crime linked to poverty, poor education, unemployment, family breakdown.

• Programs: diversion, early intervention, counseling, vocational training.

Tip: Prevention shifts focus from punishing crime to fixing root causes.

Restorative justice

• Brings offender, victim, and community together.

• Practices: victim-offender mediation, restitution, community service.

• Balances offender accountability with victim healing.

Tip: Restorative justice = most different from punishment ideology (focuses on repair, not suffering).

Correctional funnel

• Many crimes → fewer arrests → fewer convictions → even fewer prison sentences.

• Shows how discretion, plea bargains, and diversion shape who actually ends up incarcerated.

Tip: Know that not all crimes = prison. Funnel shows system filters offenders at every stage.

Plea bargaining

• Over 90% of convictions come from pleas.

• Benefits: reduces caseloads, guarantees conviction.

• Criticism: may pressure innocent defendants to plead guilty.

PSI report

• Prepared by probation officers.

• Includes offender’s background, risk factors, victim impact, sentencing recommendation.

• Judges rely on it heavily because it “personalizes” the defendant.

 Tip: PSI = the “blueprint” for individualized sentencing.

Major sentencing reforms since 1980s

• Get tough” laws: mandatory minimums, truth-in-sentencing, three-strikes.

• Shift from rehab to deterrence/retribution → mass incarceration.

Tip: Link to War on Drugs.

Appellate review

• Ensures lower courts followed due process.

• Can overturn wrongful convictions, set precedents.

Tip: Think Miranda v. Arizona → appellate ruling created a lasting rule.

Development of probation & John Augustus

• Augustus (Boston, 1841): bailed out minor offenders, supervised them.

• Advocated for reform, treatment, reintegration.
  

Tip: Called the “Father of Probation.”

Spread of probation

• Cost savings compared to incarceration.

• Fit Progressive Era rehabilitation ideals.

• Eventually adopted in every state (juveniles first, then adults).

PSI in probation context

• Judges rely on PSI to determine probation eligibility.

• Includes offense details, background, recommendations.

Probation conditions

• Standard: obey laws, report, no drugs.

• Special: treatment, curfews, GPS.

• Balance = rehabilitation + accountability.

Training models (STICS & EPICS)

• STICS = Strategic Training Initiative in Community Supervision.

• EPICS = Effective Practices in Community Supervision.

• Train officers in motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral strategies, pro-social reinforcement.

Revocation of probation

• Reasons: new offense, technical violations.

• Due process: Morrissey v. Brewer (1972) → offenders entitled to notice, hearing, evidence presentation.

Diversion programs

• Keep low-risk/first-time offenders out of jail.

• Reduce costs, prevent labeling.

Intensive Supervised Probation (ISP)

• Closer monitoring: more check-ins, curfews, drug tests.

• Smaller caseloads → more officer attention.

Electronic monitoring & GPS

• Track compliance with house arrest.

• Ensures accountability and public safety.

Community service

• Restitution to society.

• Builds responsibility.

Problem-solving courts

• Types: drug, mental health, domestic violence, veterans.

• Judges take active role, connect participants to treatment.

Tip: Problem-solving courts reflect a rehabilitation + prevention hybrid.

Role of wardens/deputies

• Warden = CEO of prison (security, staff, programs, budget).

• Deputies handle specific units (custody, programs, administration).

Custody levels

• Supermax: extreme control, solitary.

• Maximum: violent offenders, high security.

• Medium: more freedom, some programs.

• Minimum: dorms, work release.

Daily responsibilities of COs

• Enforce rules, supervise movement, counts, searches, safety checks.

• Also provide counseling and program support.

Unionization & “blue flu”

• Unions = bargaining power, push for better pay/conditions.

• Blue flu = coordinated sick leave protest since COs can’t strike legally.

Prisonization

• Process where inmates adopt prison culture (slang, code of conduct, “convict code”).

• Shapes resistance to authority and inmate solidarity.

Tip: Donald Clemmer coined “prisonization” → major exam keyword.