Chapter 11
Corrections:
History, Institutions, and
Populations
Learning Objectives
 Understand the meaning of the term “the new
penology”
 Be able to explain how the first penal
institutions developed in Europe
 Explain how William Penn revolutionized
corrections
 Compare the New York and Pennsylvania
prison models
 Chart the development of penal reform
Learning objectives
 Know how parole developed
 List the purposes of jails and be familiar with
the make-up of jail populations
 Be familiar with the term “new generation
jail”
 Classify the different types of federal and
state penal institutions
 Discuss prison population trends
History of Correctional Institutions
 10th Century England Prisons

Used to detain debtors, unemployed, or those awaiting trial
 12th Century England

County jails were constructed to hold thieves and vagrants
before the disposition of their sentence
 1301 - Le Stinche prison in Italy

Punishment was incarceration

Separate cells

Segregated by age, gender, mental state, and seriousness of
the crime
History of Correctional Institutions
 1557

The Brideswell workhouse was built to hold those
convicted of relatively minor offenses – serious
offenders were held there pending execution
 1780s

English housed prisoners on hulks (abandoned ships
anchored in harbors)
 Incarceration did not become the norm until
19th century
History of Correctional Institutions
 The Origin of Corrections in the United States:

The modern American correctional system actually
started in Pennsylvania under the leadership of
William Penn

Early seventeenth century:


1773


The first American jail was built in James City, Virginia
Newgate Prison opened in Connecticut
1775

Castle Island Prison opened in Massachusetts
History of Correctional Institutions
 The Development of Prisons:

William Penn’s code for prisons was adopted, and a
group of Quakers formed the Philadelphia Society for
Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons

The aim of the Society was to bring some degree of
humane and orderly treatment to the growing penal
system

The only models of custodial institutions at that time
were the local county jails that Penn had established
History of Correctional Institutions
 The Development of Prisons:

In 1790, the Pennsylvania legislature called for
renovation of the prisoner system. A new wing of the
Walnut Street Jail was installed

The legislation ushered in ten years of reform and
attracted worldwide notice

The Walnut Street Jail was not a total success;
overcrowding undermined the goal of solitary
confinement and soon more than one inmate was
housed in each cell
History of Correctional Institutions
 The New York and Pennsylvania Systems:

Both experienced challenges in maintaining everincreasing numbers of convicted criminals

1816 – New York built a new prison at Auburn

Many features used in these prisons systems are still
in use today
History of Correctional Institutions
 The Auburn System:

Tier system

Congregate system

The philosophy of the Auburn prison system was
crime prevention through fear of punishment and
silent confinement

Silence and solitude was seen as key

Regimentation became a standard mode of prison life

Inmates congregate for eating and for work
History of Correctional Institutions
 The Pennsylvania System:

Pennsylvania took the radical step of establishing a
prison that isolated each inmate in a single cell for
the duration of his sentence

The new Pennsylvania State Prison opened in 1826
and was called the Western Penitentiary

Its inmates were housed in solitary confinement
being allowed out about one hour per day
Pennsylvania vs. New York System
Prison
Structure
Living
Activity
Discipline
Auburn
System
Tiered
Cells
Congregate
Group
Work
Silence,
Harsh
punishment
Pennsylvania
System
Single
cells set in
semicircle
Isolated
In-cell
work,
Bible
Study
Silence,
Harsh
Punishment
History of Correctional Institutions
 Prisons of the Nineteenth Century:

The tier system was adopted in all states but
Pennsylvania

Prisons were overcrowded and the single cell
principle was often ignored

Prison brutality common

Development of prison industry:

Contract system

Convict-lease system

Prison farms
History of Correctional Institutions
 Reform Efforts:

The National Congress Penitentiary and Reformatory
Discipline, held in Cincinnati in 1870, heralded a new
era of prison reform:

Experts called for the treatment, education, and training of
inmates

Elmira Reformatory (Zebulon Brockway) in New York,
individualized treatment, the indeterminate sentence, and
parole
History of Correctional Institutions
 Prisons of the Twentieth Century:

Time of contrast in the U.S. prison system

Advocate of reform, rehabilitation, education, religion

Development of specialized prisons


Industrial prisons for hard-core inmates

Agricultural prisons for non dangerous offenders

Institutions for criminally insane
Prison industry evolved
History of Correctional Institutions
 Contemporary Correctional Institutions:


1960s-1970s:

Prisoners’ rights movement

Prison riots

The medical model emerged
1980s:

Inmate violence and gangs emerge

Control of inmates essential

Incapacitation

Punishment rather than rehabilitation
History of Correctional Institutions
 Contemporary Correctional Institutions:

Today:

Attempts to improve prison conditions

Tighten discipline

Build new super-maximum security prisons to house
extremely violence inmates

Prison overcrowding has stalled improvement attempts
Jails
 Five Purposes:
①
Detain accused offenders who cannot make bail
②
Hold convicted offenders awaiting sentence
③
Confinement for those convicted of misdemeanors
④
⑤
Hold probationers and parolees arrested for
violations and waiting for a hearing
House felons when state prisons are overcrowded
Jails
 Jail Populations and Trends:

By 2010, 750,000 jail inmates

9 out of 10 inmates are adult males

40% white

African American are nearly 5x more likely than
whites to have been in jail

7,500 minors held in adults jails each day

Minorities are over represented in inmate population
Jails
 Jail Conditions:

Jails are usually a low priority in the criminal justice
system

Jails are usually administered at the county level

Jails in some counties are physically deteriorated,
holding inmates that have serious emotional
problems

Jails are considered a revolving door of the justice
system
Jails
 New Generation Jails:

A building boom is underway to alleviate
overcrowding and improve effectiveness

Direct-supervision:


Allow for continuous observation of inmates
Indirect-supervision:

Allow for continuous observation of inmates, but using
communication devices from secure rooms
Types of Prisons
 Maximum Security Prisons:

House the most notorious offenders

Fortress-like with high walls and guard towers

High tech security measures

Armed guards
 Super-Maximum-Security-Prisons (Super-
Max):

These house the most predatory offenders

Inmates are locked up for 22 to 24 hours per day
Types of Prisons
 Medium-Security Prisons:

Similar in appearance to maximum-security

The conditions are less vigilant and less tense than
maximum security facilities

Promote treatment efforts and allows freedom of
movement
Prisons
 Minimum-Security Prisons:

Operate without armed guards and walls

House the most trustworthy and least violent
offenders

These facilities have dormitories or small private
rooms for inmates

Freedom of movement

Utilize work furloughs and educational/vocational
training
Alternative Correctional Institutions
 In addition to prisons and jails, a number of
other correctional facilities are opening within
the United States:

Prison farms and camps

Shock incarceration in boot camps

Community correctional facilities

Private prisons
Inmate Populations
 Overview:


The vast correctional system now contains over 1.6
million inmates

1 in 31 adults in America is under correctional system
supervision

90% inmates are young, male, minority, and poor

1 in 36 Hispanic men incarcerated

1 in 12 African American men incarcerated
Inmates suffer from social problems, emotional
problems, and psychological problems
Imprisonment Rate, 1980-2009
Inmate Populations
 Growth Trends:
 Between 1980 and 2006 population skyrocketed,
today the numbers have stabilized or declined
slightly
 1/3 of inmates are held on parole violations
 Mandatory sentences are holding prisoners longer
 The nation’s prison population may be maxing out
 High prison costs have compelled states to utilize
cheaper community supervision alternatives