Chapter 12
Prisons
and Jails
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Early Punishments
•
•
•
•
•
•
flogging
mutilation
branding
public humiliation
workhouses
exile
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Early Punishments
Flogging
• through Middle Ages most widely used
form of punishment
in England
• used by American
colonists as well as
on the Western
frontier
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Early Punishments
Flogging
Last officially sanctioned
flogging in U.S.
• Delaware – June 16, 1952
• burglar received
20 lashes
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Early Punishments
11th century England – blinding, cutting off of
ears, ripping out tongues of individuals who
poached on the King’s land
Amputation has been part of some societies
by:
• cutting hands off of thieves
• blinding spies
• castrating rapists
• removing tongues of
blasphemers
• breaking fingers of pickpockets
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Early Punishments
Branding
• Early Romans, Greeks,
French, and British used
branding.
• Branding served to readily
identify individuals who
had been convicted of
some offense.
• In 1829, British Parliament
outlawed branding.
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Early Punishments
U.S. - Branding was customary in the colonies.
• First offenders were branded
on the hand.
• Repeat offenders were
branded on the forehead.
• Women were rarely branded.
Instead, they were shamed
and forced to wear marks
on their clothing.
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Early Punishments
Public Humiliation
• ducking stool - A seesaw device to which an
offender is tied and lowered into a lake or
river.
• brank - A birdcage-like contraption that fit
over a person’s head. The door on the
front by mouth is fitted with a razor blade
which enters mouth
when the door is
closed.
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Early Punishments
• stocks - A person sits
with hands locked in
a wooden structure,
while the head is
free.
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• pillory - A person is
forced to stand
because of the
wooden structure
that closes over both
the head and hands.
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Early Punishments
Workhouses
Workhouses were an early form of
imprisonment designed to foster habits of
industry in the poor.
• 1557 - first workhouse in England
• former British palace called St.
Bridget’s Well
• nicknamed “Brideswell” - became
synonymous with workhouse
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Early Punishments
Exile
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• Exile is the
practice of
sending
offenders
out of country.
• French sent
offenders to
Devil’s Island.
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Early Punishments
Exile
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• England sent
offenders to the
colonies beginning
in 1618. The
program was called
“transportation.”
• American revolution
stopped the
practice of
transportation.
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Early Prisons
Middle Ages
• 1400’s - 1500’s
first
“prison” in
Europe
• for debtors
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Penitentiary Era (1790-1825)
Walnut Street Jail, PA
• It was converted to a prison by Quakers.
• The study of the Bible
was the primary
method.
• Goal was to provide religion and humanity to
imprisoned offenders held in solitary
confinement.
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Penitentiary Era (1790-1825)
• It became known as the “Pennsylvania
system.”
• Handicrafts were introduced, allowing
prisoners to work in their cells.
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Penitentiary Era (1790-1825)
1826 - Western Penitentiary
opened in Pittsburgh, PA.
1829 - Eastern Penitentiary
opened in Cherry Hill, PA.
Other states followed:
• Vermont
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• New York
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Mass Prison Era (1825-1876)
• This era introduced “congregate” but
silent style.
• Offenders ate, lived, and worked together
in silence.
• Corporal punishment was used for rule
violators.
• This became known as the
“Auburn system.”
• From 1825 onward, most
prisons built in the U.S.
followed the Auburn system.
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Based upon the use of
indeterminate sentence and
belief in rehabilitation, the
reformatory movement is the
result of the work of two men.
• Captain Alexander Maconochie
• Sir Walter Crofton
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Captain Alexander Maconochie
• Warden of Norfolk Island prison off of
the coast of Australia in the 1840’s.
• Prisoners at Norfolk were “doubly
condemned.”
• They had been “transported” to
Australia because of crimes they
had committed, and then they
committed additional crimes while
in Australia.
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Captain Alexander Maconochie
• Maconochie developed the “mark
system.”
• Prisoners could earn credits to buy their
freedom.
• Negative behavior caused marks to be
lost.
• Mark system constituted first “early
release” program.
• Maconochie became known as “father
of parole.”
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Sir Walter Crofton
• head of Irish Prison System
• adapted Maconochie’s early
release program
• set up four-stage program
• entry stage - offenders are:
• placed in solitary confinement
• given simple, unmotivating
work
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Sir Walter Crofton
• second stage - Offenders
worked on fortifications at
Spike Island where they
were housed.
• field unit stage - Offenders
worked directly on public
service projects in the
community.
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Sir Walter Crofton
• ticket of leave stage - This stage
allowed offenders to live and
work in a community under
occasional
supervision of a
“moral instructor.”
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Sir Walter Crofton
• Ticket of leave could be revoked at
any time and the offender would
serve remaining time of sentence
in prison.
• Crofton believed that reintegration
into community was necessary for
success of rehabilitation.
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Elmira Reformatory
• Zebulon Brockway was the warden at Elmira.
• The reformatory was a leading advocate of
the indeterminate sentence.
• Elmira accepted only first time offenders
between ages 16-30.
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Elmira Reformatory
System of graded stages requiring
offenders to meet goals in:
• education
• behavior
• other appropriate goals
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Reformatory Era (1876-1890)
Elmira Reformatory
Training made available in such areas
as:
• plumbing
• telegraphy
• carpentry
• tailoring
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Industrial Prison Era
(1890-1935)
The goal was to maximize the use of
the offender labor movement.
• began in industrial northeast U.S.
Northern Prisons
• smelted steel
• made furniture
• molded tires
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Industrial Prison Era
(1890-1935)
Southern Prisons
• farm labor
• public works
projects
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Industrial Prison Era
(1890-1935)
Types of Offender Labor Systems
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Contract system
Piece-price system
Lease system
Public account system
State-use system
Public works system
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Industrial Prison Era
(1890-1935)
Contract system
• Private business paid for rent of inmate labor.
• Private business provided raw materials and
supervised manufacturing process inside
of prison.
Piece-price system
• Goods produced for private
business inside of prison.
• Prisoners paid according to
number and quality of goods
they produced.
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Industrial Prison Era
(1890-1935)
Lease system
• Prisoners taken outside of prison to work.
• Once at the work site, private business people
took over supervision and employed prisoners.
Public account system
• Industries owned entirely by prisons.
• Prisons handled manufacturing of
goods from beginning to end.
• Finished goods sold on free market.
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Industrial Prison Era
(1890-1935)
State-use system
• Prisons manufactured goods ONLY for use
by the prison or government agencies.
• Prisons could NOT compete on the free
market because of inexpensive labor
advantage.
Public works system
• Prisoners maintained public
roadways, cleaned public
parks, and maintained and
restored public buildings.
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Industrial Prison Era
(1890-1935)
Hawes-Cooper Act (1929)
• This act required prison goods to
conform to regulations of the states
through which they were shipped.
• States that outlawed the manufacture of
free market goods in their own prisons
were effectively protected from prisonmade goods from other states under
this act.
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Industrial Prison Era
(1890-1935)
Hawes-Cooper Act (1929)
Act came about as a result
of complaints by labor that
they could not compete with
cheap prison labor.
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Industrial Prison Era
(1890-1935)
Ashurst-Sumners Act (1935)
• It specifically prohibited
interstate transportation
and sale of prison made
goods where prohibited
by state law.
• Act came about partly as a
result of the Depression.
• It effectively ended
industrial prison era.
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Punitive Era (1935-1945)
With a moratorium on prison
industries, prisons reverted back to
custody and security as main goals.
Large maximum
security prisons
evolved in rural
“out-of-sight”
locations.
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Treatment Era (1945-1967)
Development of behavioral techniques
in the 1930’s and 1940’s brought about
the concept of treatment in prisons.
• Treatment based on “medical
model.”
• Individual and group
therapy programs
evolved.
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Treatment Era (1945-1967)
Types of Therapy Programs
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behavioral therapy
drug therapy
neurosurgery
sensory deprivation
aversion therapy
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Treatment Era (1945-1967)
behavioral therapy - structured to
provide rewards for approved
behavior while punishing
inappropriate behavior
drug therapy - use of drugs
especially tranquilizers to modify
behavior
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Treatment Era (1945-1967)
Neurosurgery was used to
control aggressive behavior
and destructive urges.
Frontal lobotomies
were a part of this
approach.
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Treatment Era (1945-1967)
sensory deprivation - Prisoners
were isolated in a quiet, secluded
environment and denied
stimulation.
aversion therapy - Drugs and/or
electric shock was used to teach
a prisoner to associate negative
behavior with pain and
displeasure.
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Community Based Era
(1967-1980)
• This era relies upon resources
of community instead of
prison.
• Plan is to keep offender in the
community.
• half-way house - Communitybased treatment program
whereby the individual lives
in a house but is allowed to
go to work during the day.
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Community Based Era
(1967-1980)
Half-way In
Individuals who
have been
placed on
probation and
one condition
is that they
reside in the
half-way house.
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Half-way Out
Individuals on
parole and
one condition
of their parole
is that they
reside at a
half-way
house.
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U.S. Prison Population, 1960-2000.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics
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The Warehousing Era
(1980-1995)
Robert Martinson
“Nothing Works” study (1974)
• He surveyed 231 research studies that
evaluated correctional treatment
programs between 1945-1967.
• None of the 231 programs appeared to
substantially reduce recidivism.
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The Warehousing Era
(1980-1995)
recidivism - The commission
of a crime by an individual
who has previously been
convicted of a crime; the new
crime may be the same or
different from the first crime.
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The Warehousing Era
(1980-1995)
Definitions of Prison Capacity
• design capacity - The prison population the
institution was originally built to
handle.
• operational capacity - The number of
prisoners a facility can effectively
accommodate based on the staff
and programs of the facility.
• rated capacity - The size of the prison
population that a facility can handle
according to the judgment of experts.
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The Just Deserts Era
(1995-Present)
• Imprisonment is seen as fully
deserved and a proper
consequence of criminal
behavior.
• Root purpose of
imprisonment is
punishment.
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The Just Deserts Era
(1995-Present)
• 1995 - Virginia abolishes parole,
increases the length of sentences
for certain violent crimes, and plans
building of 12 new prisons.
• 1995 - 28 states report
a decrease in prisoner
privileges during
previous 12 months.
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The Just Deserts Era
(1995-Present)
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reduces personal property allowed
restricts outside purchases
eliminates cable TV
abolishes family visits
eliminates special
occasion banquets
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Prisons Today
Numbers and Types of Prisons
Approximately
• 1,000 state prisons
• 80 federal prisons
• 461 state and federal
prisoners per 100,000
population
On January 1, 2001, state and federal
prisons held 1,381,892 inmates. Slightly
more than 6.6% of those imprisoned were
women.
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Prisons Today
Race
• Whites - 1,108 incarcerated per
100,000 white males in their late
20’s.
• Blacks - 9,749 incarcerated per
100,000 black males in
their late 20’s.
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Prisons Today
Types of Crimes
State Level
• 48% sentenced for violent crime.
• 21% sentenced for property crime.
• 21% sentenced for drug crime.
Federal Level
• 61% sentenced for drug law
violations.
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Prisons Today
Inmates
• low level of formal
education
• socially disadvantaged background
• lack of significant vocational skills
• (most) served time in a juvenile facility
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Prisons Today
Staff
• 350,000 people are employed in
corrections.
• 20% of all correctional officers are female.
• 70% of correctional officers are white.
• 22% of correctional officers are black.
• 5% of correctional officers are Hispanic.
• 4.1 to 1 is the inmate/custody staff ratio.
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Prisons Today
Security Levels
• maximum
• medium
• minimum
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Prisons Today
Maximum
High levels of security characterized by:
• high fences/walls of concrete
• barriers between living area and outer perimeter
• electric perimeters
• laser motion detectors
• electronic and pneumatic locking systems
• metal detectors
• X-ray machines
• television surveillance
• thick walls
• secure cells
• gun towers
• armed guards
• radio communication between staff
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Prisons Today
Medium
Similar in design to maximum security
facilities, however, they allow prisoners more
freedom.
Prisoners can usually:
• associate with other prisoners
• go to prison yard
• use exercise room/equipment
• use library
• use shower and bathroom facilities under
less supervision
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Prisons Today
Medium
• While individual cells
predominate, dormitory style
housing is sometimes used.
• Cells and living quarters tend to
have more windows.
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Prisons Today
Medium
“Count”
• Process of counting number of inmates
during course of day. Times are
random, and all business stops until
count is verified.
• Medium security facilities tend to have
barbed wire at top of fences instead
of large stone walls of maximum
security facilities.
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Rates of Imprisonment in the United States
Source: Allen J. Beck and Paige M. Harrison, Prisoners in 2000 (Washington, D.C.: Bureau of
Justice Statistics, 2001).
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Prisons Today
Minimum
• Housing tends to be dormitory style, and
prisoners usually have freedom of
movement around the facility.
• Work is done under general supervision only.
• Guards are unarmed, and gun towers do not
exist.
• Fences, if they do exist, are low and sometimes
unlocked.
• “Counts” are usually not taken.
• Prisoners are sometimes allowed to wear their
own clothes.
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Federal Prison System
History
• 1895 - Leavenworth, Kansas - First
federal prison for civilians opens.
• 1906 - Second prison in Atlanta opens.
• 1927 - Alderson, West Virginia - First
federal prison for women opens.
• 1933 - Springfield, Missouri - Medical
Center for federal prisoners
opens with 1,000 bed capacity.
• 1934 - Alcatraz begins operations.
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Federal Prison System
Security Levels
• administrative maximum
(ADMAX)
• high security
• medium security
• low security
• minimum security
• administrative facility
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Federal Prison System
Administrative Maximum (ADMAX)
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•
•
•
ADMAX is ultra-maximum security.
It is located in Florence, Colorado.
The 575 bed facility opened in 1995.
Dangerous prisoners confined to cell 23 hours
per day.
• Prisoners are not allowed to associate with
each other.
• 1% of federal prison population is
confined here.
• It holds mob bosses, spies, terrorists,
murderers, escape artists, etc.
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Federal Prison System
High Security (called U.S. penitentiaries)
• armed patrol
• intense electronic surveillance
• designed to prevent escapes and contain
disturbances
• 10% of federal prison population
• 8 facilities
Examples:
• Atlanta, GA
• Lewisburg, PA
• Terre Haute, IN
• Leavenworth, KS
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Federal Prison System
Medium Security
(called federal correctional institutions)
• double chain link fence
• electronic monitoring of grounds
• 23% of federal prison population
• 26 facilities
Examples:
• Terminal Island, CA
• Lompoc, CA
• Seagoville, TX
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Federal Prison System
Low Security
• surrounded by double chain link
fence
• employs vehicle patrols of
perimeter
• 28% of federal prison population
• 17 facilities
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Federal Prison System
Minimum Security
(called federal prison camps)
• essentially honor-type camps
• barrack type housing
• no fences
• 35% of federal prison population
• 55 facilities
Examples:
• Elgin Air Force Base, FL
• Maxwell Air Force Base, AL
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Federal Prison System
Administrative Facility
• institutions with special missions
• most are metropolitan detention centers
(MDCs)
• generally located in large cities, close to
federal courthouses
• jails holding inmates awaiting trial
• medical centers for federal prisoners
(MCFP)
• 5 facilities that function as hospitals
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Jails
original purpose - Short-term
confinement of suspects following
arrest and awaiting trial.
current use - Jails hold
those convicted of
misdemeanors and
some felonies, as
well as holding
suspects following arrest and
awaiting trial.
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Jails
Statistics - 2001
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•
•
•
621,149 men are held in jail.
70,414 women are held in jail.
7,615 juveniles are held in jail.
56% are pre-trial detainees or
involved in some phase of the
trial process.
• 22% have been charged with a drug
offense.
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Jails
Profile
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•
•
•
3,365 jails
207,600 correctional officers
2.9/1 inmate/staff ratio
$14,667 average - to house
person in jail for a year
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Jails
• 20,000,000 people are admitted annually
to jail.
• 2/3 of all jails are designed to house 50
or less prisoners.
• 6% of the jails hold over 50% of the
prisoners.
• Almost 50% of jail population is held in 5
states: California, Texas, Florida, New
York, and Georgia.
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Causes of Jail Deaths in the U.S.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
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Women and Jail
• Women compose only 11.4%
of the country’s jail
population.
• Educational levels are low.
• 4% of female inmates are
pregnant at the time they
come to jail.
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Women and Jail
• Women make up 22% of the
correctional force in jails
across the nation.
• 626 jails, in which over 50%
of the correction officer
force consists of
women.
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Growth of Jails
• end of 1980’s - Jails are
overcrowded.
• Court ordered caps put on
population.
• 2000 - Jail capacity increased,
and occupancy was at 92%
of rated capacity.
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Growth of Jails
• new jail management strategy
- direct supervision
• system of pods or modular
self-contained housing
areas
• open environment
• “new generation” jails
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Future of Jails
• adding critical programs for
inmates
• increasing jail industries
• use of citizen
volunteers
• jail “boot camps”
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Private Prisons
States use private prisons to:
• reduce overcrowding
• lower operating expenses
• avoid lawsuits
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U.S. Incarceration by Race and Sex
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics
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