Correctional Continuum U.S. Correctional History

Review Corrections in Feudal Society? –Serfs vs. Freemen First “principalities” in 12 th Century –From private to territorial lords By 1500, gov’t “corrections” overcomes traditions of private restitution and/or revenge –Punishments very public, and brutal/bizarre In part, an effort to demonstrate that the government has a monopoly on the “legitimate” use of violence

Review II Interesting stuff from reading that I forgot to mention last class –Inquisitorial vs. Accusatory system Eventually (1750s to 1850s), corrections changes into the form we recognize today No more molten lead down the front of the shirt –Why?? Spierenburg’s explanation? Transformation of sensibilities State no longer needs to prove itself

Colonial America ( ) Nature of Society –Calvinist doctrine Crime not a “problem” (fact of life) Control through family training/community cohesion Nature of Punishment –Borrow heavily from England, So...central features are same: Corporal Public Sparse use of prisons

Enlightenment and Change (1770s-1820) Population boom and shift from agrarian to industrial economy Enlightenment Produces alarm/dismay but also optimism –First “burst of enthusiasm” (deterrence) Reform the legal code Substitute prisons for corporal punishment –First wave of prison building ( ) –“A repulsion from the gallows rather than any faith in the penitentiary spurred the late-18th Century construction”

From deterrence to penance ( ) By 1820, the luster of the classical school (and associated reforms) fades –No crime reduction, trouble with prisons –Still, very optimistic (“impulse to reform”) The Invention of the Penitentiary –A “PROPER” penitentiary will reform offenders PN vs. Auburn debate –Reflects new understanding of cause of crime

The Great Debate PN –Reform through penance, solitude, silence, labor (inmates kept in cell, separate “yard”) Auburn –Reform through discipline/obedience, labor (inmates congregate to work, but lockstep, etc) Contract labor system Why did Auburn Win?

Southern/Western Penology Often neglected topic in corrections texts Prisons develop differently –In South, race and the “Black codes” Little $ to build prisons (civil war decimation) The “LEASE SYSTEM” Penal Farms

The New Penology ( ) By 1860, enthusiasm for penitentiaries wanes –Corruption, corporal punishment, crowding... Wardens give up on ideal and seek to maintain order 1870 National Prison Congress –Leads to “Declaration of Principles” Reaffirm reform over punishment Indeterminate sentences Parole Separate institutions for females and juveniles –The lockstep, rules of silence, isolation, etc = humiliating and unproductive –Elmira as “test case” for new “Reformatory”

Progressive Era Progressives = middle/upper class reformers –Great optimism + belief in government –Sought to eradicate all sorts of social ills –Crime? General reform (poverty reduction, fix slums) Embrace new penology –Indeterminate sentences + parole boards/supervision –Juvenile Justice System –Probation

The Medical Model and “Rehabilitative Ideal” By 1940s, social sciences gain prestige –Psychiatry, psychology, sociology Rehabilitative Ideal (1940s-1960s) Causes of crime are unique (social, psychological) The goal of corrections is to identify and eliminate/correct these causes (rehabilitation) Treatment must be individualized –Corrections workers and judges must be trusted with a great deal of discretion

1960s Corrections becomes professionalized Rehab as unquestioned goal (in rhetoric at least) of Corrections system –American Corrections Association (from American Prison Association) –Correctional Facilities Standards for “correctional officers” All kinds of new Rx programs –College education, group counseling, therapeutic milieu, behavior modification

Progressives  Radicals, Change... (1960s-1980) Social Context of 1960s –Contrast with “progressive optimism/faith” –Many progressives turn more radical Labeling theory ascends  avoid “doing harm” Martinson Report  “nothing works” –“JUSTICE MODEL” –Clear et al. “Community Corrections” era –Conservatives have different take on ’60s Crime = symbol of all the “DISORDER” Solution = go back to classical school

Uneasy Alliance Conservatives and liberals agree on: –The need to limit sentencing discretion Conservatives = liberal judges Liberals = corrupt, racist judges/parole boards Solution = return to determinate sentencing, sentencing guidelines, etc –Only difference is on length of sentences Liberals = do less harm, be fair (justice model) Conservatives = punishment WORKS!