Chapter 10

Penitentiary invented 1799

Penitentiary Act of 1779, which called for the creation of a house of hard labor where offenders would be imprisoned for up to two years. The institution would be based on four principles:

1. A secure and sanitary building

2. Inspection to ensure that offenders followed the rules

3. Abolition of the fees charged offenders for their food

4. A reformatory regime

Pennsylvania System -

solitary confinement
Walnut Street Jail

New York System -

work in silence during day, alone @ night
Sold inmate labor → contract labor
Auburn Penitentiary

Reformatory Movement

National prison association, 1870
Elmira reformatory
- Mark system
- Diagnosis and treatment = key to reform and rehabilitation
- Personalized work and education program for individuals
Emphasize training, mark system, indeterminate sentencing, parole
Mark system - earn points to get out early

Women and men separated in 1930s

Rehabilitation Model

Medical Model - abandoned

Community model - reintegrate into society

Crime control model - greater use of incarceration

What are the underlying assumptions of the rehabilitation, community, and crime control models of corrections?
Rehabilitation model: Criminal behavior is the result of a biological, psychological, or social defi-ciency; clinicians should diagnose the problem and prescribe treatment; when cured, the individual may be released.
Community model: The goal of corrections is to reintegrate people into the com-munity, so rehabilitation should be carried out in the community rather than in prison if possible; correctional workers should serve as advocates for convicted people.
Crime control model: Criminal behavior can be controlled by greater use of incarceration and other forms of strict supervision.

Organization of Corrections

Federal correction system
State corrections system
Private prisons

Jails

Waiting for trial
Local
misdemeanors

1st amendment

Freedom of speech and expression for prisoners

Law of Correctional Personnel

Civil service laws
Section 1983
Civil service laws set the procedures for hiring, promoting, assigning, disciplining, and firing public employees.
In Cooper v. Pate (1964), the Supreme Court said that Section 1983 provides a means for prisoners, but also probationers and parol-ees, to bring lawsuits against correctional officials.

US has the highest incarceration rate in the world

More arrests > more likely incarceration
Tougher sentencing
Prison construction
War on drugs
State politics
If little relationship exists between the crime rate and the incarceration rate, what factors explain the growth in imprisonment in the decades after 1980? Five reasons are often cited for the rise: (1) increased arrests and more likely incarceration, (2) tougher sentencing, (3) prison construction, (4) the war on drugs, and (5) state politics.

Civil rights act of 1871 (section 1938) Because of Cooper v. Pate, the federal courts now recognize that imprisoned people may sue state officials over such things as brutality by guards, inadequate nutrition or medical care, theft of personal property, and the denial of basic rights.