
13 Prison and Jails
Chapter Agenda • Describe the history of punishment, concluding with its impact on the modern philosophy of corrections • List major milestones in the historical development of prisons • Describe the purpose and major characteristics of today’s prisons
Chapter Agenda • Summarize the role jails currently play in American corrections and issues jail administrators face • Describe the current and likely future roles of private prisons
Learning Objective Describe the history of punishment, concluding with its impact on the modern philosophy of corrections
History of Punishment • Lex talionis • Flogging • Mutilation/amputation • Branding • Public humiliation • Exile • Workhouses
Learning Objective List major milestones in the historical development of prisons
Prisons and Jails • Humanitarian alternative to corporal punishment • Earliest records of a prison are dated back to the middle ages • Incarceration became a primary form of sentence for the poor • Dr. Benjamin Rush, 1787
History of Prisons and Jails • The Pennsylvania System, 1790 • The Auburn System, 1819 • The Reformatory Movement, 1877 • Industrial Era, 1890–1935 • Punitive Era, 1935-1945 • Treatment Era, 1945-1967 • Community-based Treatment Era, 1967-1980 • Warehousing Era, 1980-1995
Learning Objective Describe the purpose and major characteristics of today’s prisons
The State Prison System • Classification system • A system used by prison administrators to assign inmates to custody levels based on offense history, assessed dangerousness, perceived risk of escape, and other factors • Supermax security level • Maximum security level • Medium security level • Minimum security level
The Federal Prison System • Federal Bureau of Prisons • Over 80 different types of federal correctional facilities • Ranging from supermax prisons to minimum security prison farms
Learning Objective Summarize the role jails currently play in American corrections and issues jail administrators face
The Just Desserts Era, 1995 - Present • A contemporary model of imprisonment in which the “just desserts” principle forms the underlying social philosophy • A return to punishment as the root purpose of imprisonment • Imprisonment seen as fully deserved consequence of crime • An emphasis on individual responsibility • A focus on limiting inmate privileges and increase the pains of imprisonment
State Prisons • One out of every four state institutions is a large, maximum security prison with a population approaching 1,000 inmates • Profile of prisoners • Low level of formal education • Socially disadvantaged background. • Lack of significant vocational skill. • Most have served time in a juvenile facility
Current Uses for Jails • Receive individuals pending arraignment and those awaiting trial, conviction, or sentencing • Detain juveniles, mentally ill, and others pending transfer • Release convicted inmates to the community upon completion of their sentence
Current Uses for Jails • Transfer inmates to, or house inmates for, federal, state, or other authorities • Operate community-based programs with day reporting, home detention, electronic monitoring, or other types of supervision • Readmit probation, parole, and bail-bond violators and absconders
Jails • There are 3,365 jails operating in U.S. • Approximately 207,000 jail employees • Average cost is $15,000 per year/ per inmate • Most jails are designed to house 50 or fewer inmates • 6% of the jails hold over 50% of the prisoners
Jails • Los Angeles County jail is the largest jail in the U.S • 2008 daily average population 22,349 inmates(87% capacity) • New York City jail is second largest • 2008 daily average population of 19,554 inmates(71% capacity) • Los Angeles & New York City together held 5.33% of all jail inmates in 2008
Issues in Prisons Today • Pregnancy • Drug abuse • Overcrowding • Education level of inmates • Mental health issues
Learning Objective Describe the current and likely future roles of private prisons
Private Prisons • Privatization • Prisons operated for state and federal government by private enterprise for profit • Numerous issues