corrections ch 2

code of Hammurabi

“an eye for an eye”

first written (codified) code

lex talionis

equal retribution, punishment matches the crime in degree

controlled vengeance

puts it in the hands of the government

the state takes away the responsibility for punishing wrongdoers

from the individuals who were wronged and assumes it for itself.

first jail/gaols

• Not used for punishment, hold people waiting for trial or in position of the actual punishment 

• appalling conditions - rats, disease

• held political adversaries

galley slavery

ancient romans

people who were defeated in war, removed poor people from streets

drawn out death sentence

galley - bottom of the ship, they would row the ship to transport people and goods around the city

galley slavery ended

when the labor was on longer needed on ships because of the development of sails

poor and other people began to congregate

criticisms of galley slavery

brutal, high mortality rate

bridewells

hold and whip beggars, prostitutes, and socially undesirable people

inmates were not fed, clothed, genders were not separated

riot act

rioting over wages and food

black act

one’s face so as to be camouflaged when killing deer in the king’s or a lord’s forest

transportation

banishment, sold to a ships captain, sell convicts as servants for agricultural work

ended in America after the revolutionary war

Norfolk Island

1000 miles off the Australian coast

brutal and violent island prison where inmates were poorly fed, clothed and housed and were mistreated by by staff and inmates

maconochie

asked to be transferred to Norfolk, former naval captain

• wanted to practice ideas about prison reform

• served as a warden

inmates should be rewarded for good behavior through marks - lead to privileges and early release, treated with respect

enlightenment

shift from corporal punishment to rational imprisonment focused on deterrence

individual has rights

industrial revolution

change to industrial factory society

enlightenment

short from public physical penalty to large scale systematic imprisonment - discipline and reform

John howard

led the Penitentiary act

the state or government had a responsibility to provide sanitary and separate conditions and decent food and water for those they incarcerated.

penitentiary act of 1779

• Instead of being banished people can spend 2 years doing hard labor in a place that is sanitary and expected - with the intention of reform 

classical school

free will/ rational choice - punishment should fit offense

we choose what will best benefit us after weighing benefits and consequences

hedonism

humans act in whatever has the best net benefit for them 

cesare Beccaria

laws should be designed to preserve public safety and order, not to avenge crime.

• those accused should be able to face their accusers

• punishment should be proportional to offense, and should be applied regardless of social status

• focus on certainty, punishment should be spelled out in advance - allows due process

• deterrence, opposed the death penalty - not effective deterrent

Jermey Bentham

principle of morals and legislation

human actions should be judged as moral or immoral by their effects on the happiness of the community

designed the panopticon

principle of utility

Bentham, human actions should be judged as moral or immoral by their effects on the happiness of the community

• greatest good for the greatest number

hedonistic calculus

individuals are assumed to logically weigh the anticipated benefits of a given course of action against its possible costs. If the balance of consequences of a contemplated action is thought to enhance pleasure and/or minimize pain, individuals will pursue it;

panopticon

Bentham, circular design of a jail where there is a guard tower in the middle and cells surrounding it. inmates did not know they were being watched by guards

• idea was they would police themselves

• high rates of suicide and insanity

• all seeing eye

Jermey Bentham - escaped prisoners

when designing the panopticon, he said he (or the government) would pay for each escaped/deceased prisoner

• ten or twenty pounds

similarities - Baccaria and Bentham

focused on the certainty over severity

• public, speedy, necessary, and the minimum possible in the circumstances according to the law - should be spelled out in advance 

positivist school

the only way to be “positive” that we are right

scientific method, determinism, focus on offender, multiple causation factors, rehab over fixed punishment

first jail in America

walnut street jail

William Penn

quaker ideals - great law - inspiration for PA model

influenced by enlightenment thinking

not a fan of harsh punishments

great law

based on Quaker principles

deemphasized the use of corporal and capital punishment for all crimes but the most serious

reforms substituted fines and jail time for corporal punishment

walnut street jail

individual cells, communication blocks, reduction of abuse

did not separate based off gender, crime, age

penalized people living in poverty

penitentiary

believed that criminals could be reformed - best when they are placed in solitary confinement where they could pray and get penitence from god

• prison

PA system

redemption of offender through routine of the prison

isolation, penance, contemplation, silence, labor

inmates are in their cell for eating, sleeping, and working

bible reading, work on crafts in cell

western PA prison

Pittsburgh - It was devised to operate in a solitary and separate fashion for inmates. Even labor was to be prohibited, as it was thought that this might interfere with the ability of the criminals to reflect and feel remorse for their crime

eastern PA prison

almost no offenders were reformed, they no longer knew how to function in society

given a number, weren’t called by their name, didn’t work, they all went insane

in Philadelphia

“cherry hill” inmates couple be corrupted by fellow inmates

criticisms of PA system

expensive to maintain

injurious to the person

NY model

uniforms, redemption of offender through the well ordered routine of prison

strict discipline, obedience, labor, silence

slept in cells but come together to eat and work

work together in shops making goods to be sold by the state

Auburn system

striped uniforms were originated here

complete separation- used lashings - NY system

• different classification levels - ball and chain originates here - much cheaper to build - allowed production of goods 

contract labor system

congregate system

Dorothea Dix

humanitarian, insane asylum reformer

remarks on prisons and prison discipline in the US - traveled to prisons

southern system

prisons were plantations

slavery was abolished by the 13th amend for everyone but prisoners

convict lease system

 lease prisoners from the state - don't have to support them (feed, house, clothe

American prison congress

goal was reforming prisons

marks system, provided a blueprint for prisons today

trying to recapture some of the idealism promised with the creation of prisons

elmira reformatory

1876 - NY

encompass all of the rehabilitation focus and graduated reward system (marks system)

school like environment, strict schedule of work, did well = possibility of early release

Zebulon Brockway

head of elmira

firmly believed the diagnosis and treatment were key in reforming people

• persuades NY legislature to indeterminate sentencing

• wanted the reformatory to house only 16 to 30 year olds, they were easier to change

characteristics of elmira

encompass all of the rehabilitation focus and graduated reward system

a “model” prison

focus on physical training of inmates

marks system - three prong process

criticisms of reformatory

inmates did not conform as they were expected to

the staff were not educated - restored to violence to keep control

creation of probation and parole

first half of the 19th century,

The idea behind both was that programming and assistance in the community while supervising offenders could reduce the use of incarceration and help offenders transition more smoothly back into the community.

John haviland

designed eastern state prison