Prisons and Jails
Mr. Whitaker
Vocabulary




Congregate System A 1900’s prison system developed
in New York were inmates stayed in separate cells
during the night but worked together in the daytime .
Consolidation A corrections model in which the inmates
who pose the highest security risk are housed in a single
facility to separate them from the general prison
population.
Dispersion A corrections model in which high-risk
inmates are spread throughout the general prison
population.
Jail A facility, usually operated by county government,
used to hold persons awaiting trial or those who have
been found guilty of misdemeanors.
Vocabulary




Lockdown A disciplinary action taken by prison officials
in which all inmates are ordered to their quarters.
Maximum Security Prison A correctional institution
designed and organized to control and discipline
dangerous felons, as well as prevent escape, with
intense supervision, cement walls, and electronic,
barbed wire fences.
Medical Model A model of corrections in which the
psychological and biological roots of an inmate’s criminal
behavior are identified and treated.
Medium-Security Prison A correctional institution that
houses less dangerous inmates and therefore uses less
restrictive measures to avoid violence and escapes.
Vocabulary




Minimum-Security Prison A correctional institution
designed to allow inmates, most of whom pose low
security risks, a great deal of freedom of movement and
contact with the outside world.
Penitentiary An early form of correctional facility that
emphasized separating inmates from society and from
each other.
Pretrial Detainees Individuals who cannot post bail after
arrest and are therefore forced to spend the time prior to
their trials in jail.
Private Prisons Correctional facilities operated by
private corporations instead of the government.
Vocabulary



Separate Confinement A nineteenth-century
penitentiary system in which inmates were kept
separate from each other at all times.
Time Served The period of time a person
denied bail has spent in jail prior to his or her
trial.
Warden The prison official who is ultimately
responsible for the organization and
performance of a correctional facility.
Questions for You
What are some sights and sounds of a jail
or prison?
 Should a jail or prison provide a harsh or
rehabilitating environment for its inmates?
 Is solitary confinement humane or in
humane? Why or Why not?
 Do you think jails or prisons deter people
to do crime in the U.S.?

Short History of American Prisons
Colonial History
 Walnut Street Prison: The First
Penitentiary
Pennsylvania (1776) passed a law that
offenders were to be reformed
 treatment and discipline rather than being
beaten or executed.

The Pennsylvania System
a. Two prisons included:
1. Western Penitentiary
near Pittsburgh.
2. Eastern Penitentiary in
Cherry Hill.


Practiced separate
confinement.
Consisted of back-toback cells facing both
inward and outward.
The New York System



Initially run like
Walnut Street.
Found that solitary
confinement led to
sickness, insanity and
suicide.
Solitary confinement
was abandoned in
1822.
The New York System
In 1831, the
congregate system
was started.
a. Inmates worked and
ate together.
b. Silence was enforced
by guards.

The Reformers and the
Progressives
Rehabilitation became a new tool.
 Elmira Reformatory rewarded good behavior
with early release.
 Progressives believed that crime was caused by:
a. Social b. Economic c. Biological factors.


Medical Model held that institutions should offer
a variety of treatments and programs to cure
inmates.
The Reassertion of Punishment
1.
In 1974, Martinson
published his work
critical of rehabilitation.
2. Martinson’s work and a
rise in the crime rate
helped create a gettough philosophy
towards crime.
Do you think the role of the
prisons should be more
rehabilitative or
punishment?
The Origins of Prisons Activity

Age of Torture

The Reformers

Building Ideals

19th Century
Activity Continued






What is a pillory and how was it used?
What is a prison hulk?
What is a Panopticon prison and who invented
it?
In five sentences, explain how the Quakers
influenced prison reform.
Briefly explain architectural and disciplinary
ideals in the earliest prisons.
How did prison design change in the 19th
century?
The Prison Population Bomb

A. According to
Blumstein of Carnegie
Mellon University
much of the growth of
prison populations is
due to the
enhancement and
stricter enforcement
of drug laws.
Four Factors of Increased
Populations in Prisons




Increased probability of incarceration is greater
than twenty years ago.
Inmates serving more time for each crime:
Federal prison growth: since 1995 the federal
prison population has been growing at twice the
rate of the states.
Rising incarceration rates of women: in 1981
there were 14,000 women in prison, by 2003,
the number had reached 100,102.
Types of Prisons



Maximum-Security
Prisons
Medium-Security
Prisons
Minimum-Security
Prisons
Maximum-Security Prisons
They are designed with full attention to
security and surveillance.
 Inmates lives are programmed in
militaristic fashion.
 About one-quarter of nation’s prisons are
maximum-security institutions.
 Maximum security facilities house
approximately 16 percent of the nation’s
prisoners.

Medium-Security Prisons



Medium security
facilities hold 35
percent of prison
population
Commit less serious
offenses and are less
of a risk for escaping.
More programs, more
freedom of movement
and more contact
between inmates.
Minimum-Security Prisons
Minimum security facilities 49 percent of
prison population.
 facilities often look more like college
campuses than prisons.
 Inmates are mostly nonviolent and well
behaved.
 Extreme freedom of movement

Facility Research Project


Working in pairs, your partner and you
will research two facilities on the federal,
local, or state level.
Using your handout, you will create a
one page report on each facility and
create a presentation to give to the class
on the facilities that you choose.
What is the difference?
Government Prisons and Private Prisons
 Using the diagram tell me:
Five Reasons why privatized prisons
What are three arguments against it?
Five differences between Maximum Security
Prisons and Medium Security Prisons

Prison Administration
Management Difficulties
1. Consequences of
mismanagement can
be severe.
2. Breakdowns in
managerial control
commonly preceded
acts of mass violence.
Prison Management Structure


The management
structure of prisons is
similar to those of
police departments.
Both systems have
hierarchical chain of
command.
Prison Management Structure
Police departments have a continuity of
purpose that is sometimes lacking in
prison organizations.
 In prisons the employees are:
1. counselors trying to rehabilitate.
2. guards attempting to control.
 The warden or superintendent is ultimately
responsible for the operation of a prison.

The Emergence of Private Prisons
Labor costs are less expensive for private
prisons.
 Competitive bidding: the drive for profit
pushes private prisons to pay the lowest
possible price for items.
 Less red tape: private prisons do not have
the same amounts of paperwork that slow
down governmental organizations.

The Function of Jails




Holding those convicted
of misdemeanors.
Receiving/holding
individuals pending:
arraignment, trial,
conviction or
sentencing.
Temporary detention of
juveniles.
Holding mentally ill
pending transfer to
mental health facility.
The Function of Jails
Detaining probation/parole violators or
those who “jumped” bail.
 Houses inmates awaiting transfer to state
or federal prisons.
 Operating community-based corrections
programs.

The Jail Population



Pretrial Detainees
(walking legal
contradictions)
Sentenced Jail Inmates:
individuals sentenced to
short terms, typically
between thirty and ninety
days.
Other Jail Inmates:
include convicted felons
awaiting transfer to state
or federal prisons,
probation or parole
violators.
The End of the Line: Supermax
Prisons
The “Worst of the Worst”
 Prisoners are committed to a “supermax”
because they misbehave in standard
penal institutions.
 Held in one-person cells.
 Permitted out of their cells only ninety
minutes a day.

Marion – The First Supermax
After Alcatraz was closed in 1963, the
Bureau of Prisons attempted to “disperse”
the worst prisoners throughout the prison
system.
 2. In 1983, Marion experienced a rash of
violence that resulted in a total lockdown
of the institution.
 3. Marion left the lockdown policy in
effect, creating the first “supermax.”

The New Generation Supermax


In the past decade, a
new generation of
supermax facilities
has been created.
These new facilities
focus on technology,
and security in the
housing and
movement of inmates.
Senseless Suffering?


Various groups argue that supermax prisons are
cruel and unusual.
So far, the courts have not forced the elimination
of supermax prisons.
Think-Pair-Share

The article called “The End of the Line
Supermax Prisons”
Final Project
Your partner and you will design a prison
or jail
 You will have to design the building, rank
structure, programs, security measures,
daily routines, housing arrangements, and
more.
