CJ lecture notes 1

The Correctional System

• Corrections is the management of offenders through institutions and practices.

• Institutions: jails, prisons

• Practices: probation, parole, community programs, restorative justice, retribution, rehabilitation programs

• Purpose: correct, control, and change behavior

• Focus: public safety and offender management

The History of Corrections

• Earliest recorded legal code: $1780\, \text{BCE}$

• Two goals: $\text{eye for an eye}$ and state restitution

• Later Codes: Mosaic Code, Roman Twelve Tables, Germanic Wergild

Early Corrections and Enlightenment

• Punishment was harsh, public, and tied to religion

• Punishment types: corporal punishment, public spectacles, religious justification

• Institutions: monastic prisons, bridewells, poorhouses, workhouses

• Issues: unfair application, brutality, fueled disobedience & unrest

• Enlightenment thinkers:

  • Montesquieu ($1689-1755$)

  • Beccaria ($1738-1794$)

  • Bentham ($1748-1832$)

• Classical School: punishment should be proportional, swift, and public; deterrence over revenge

• Positivist School: crime explained by science; determinants include biological, psychological, and social factors

• Examples:

  • Biological: Lombroso's "born criminal" theory

  • Psychological: mental illness

  • Social: poverty, family, community (Chicago School)

  • Foundation for rehabilitation and research-based corrections; but also misuse (e.g., eugenics)

Early Prison Reformers

• J. Howard ($1726-1790$): inspected prisons, exposed squalor & jailer’s fees; advocated hygiene, diet, inspections

• Maconochie ($1787-1860$): Norfolk Island "mark system" — stages and rewards for effort & good conduct

• Crofton ($1815-1897$): Irish mark system → tickets of leave, vocational training, influenced U.S. parole

Corrections in the U.S.

• European influence: harsh punishments, public spectacles, executions; Quaker ideals favored fines & prison over whipping or death

• Walnut Street Jail ($1790$): first penitentiary approach in U.S.

• Two distinct U.S. models emerged: Pennsylvania Model and New York Model

The Pennsylvania Model

• Isolation and penitence as the path to reform

• Eastern State Penitentiary ($1829$): radial design, solitary cells; chapel; individual exercise yards; fortress-like design

• Emphasized penitence and self-reflection

• Problems: overcrowding, mental breakdowns, accusations of brutality

• Role: introduced the notion of isolation as reform

The New York Model

• Emphasis on strict discipline and efficiency over solitary reform

• Auburn Prison ($1816$): inmates housed together but with absolute silence; lockstep marching; factory-style labor; constant surveillance

• More practical & scalable; became the dominant U.S. model

Other Models and Developments

• First Correctional Congress ($1870$): reform goal; indeterminate sentencing; marks system; smaller, specialized prisons

• Elmira Reformatory ($1876$): Brockway’s model — indeterminate sentencing, parole, wages for work, behavior modification

• Medical Model ($1920s$): crime seen as a disease to be treated; diagnosis & therapy focus; less successful in practice but influenced future rehab approaches