Penitentiary model revolutionary?
Module 6 Discussion: Punishment, Penitence, & Prison
Public officials temporarily held accused men, women, and children in common rooms at the Walnut Street Jail—a city prison that opened in 1773 in Philadelphia—while they awaited trial or punishment. In 1790, Pennsylvanians constructed a separate cell house to detain inmates at the jail, making it the first prison in the U.S. Prior to this, officials punished most criminals with corporal punishment—the infliction of physical pain on a person, including flogging, whipping, beating, branding, mutilation, and confinement in stocks—and then released them back into the community, unless the punishment was death. Officials believed that the public humiliation and pain caused by corporal punishment would deter offenders from repeating criminal behavior.
During this time period, Quakers, religious pacifists who primarily lived in Pennsylvania, advocated for long-term imprisonment, combined with solitude, silence, and hard work, to effectively punish criminals. In addition, Quakers called for cultivating spiritual reflection among convicts to rehabilitate them. Many public officials embraced the idea of solitary confinement as a means to foster regret and penitence among criminals—hence the emergence of the word, “penitentiary”—and the importance of both punishment and rehabilitation.
In 1821, after years of enduring an overcrowded prison in poor condition where inmates frequently attacked each other, the Pennsylvania Legislature approved funding to build the Eastern State Penitentiary, a massive prison with the capacity to hold 250 inmates. British American architect John Haviland designed the building to comply with the Quaker concept of moral rehabilitation via solitary confinement. In October 1829, the Eastern State Penitentiary opened its doors. Inmates were required to wear masks to prevent them from communicating with each other during infrequent trips outside of their single cells, which were equipped with feed doors and tiny, individual exercise yards designed to reduce contact among and between inmates and guards. The warden was required to visit every inmate on a daily basis, and the overseers had to see each inmate three times per day.
The Eastern State Penitentiary’s approach to incarceration became known as the Pennsylvania System, thanks in part to the contemporaneous development of the New York System, a prison model that required prisoners to work together in silence, and which subjected inmates to physical punishment. The Pennsylvania System and the New York System were opposing models. By the 1850s, numerous penitentiaries and prisons were built throughout the U.S., most of which adopted the New York System, where prison officials held inmates in unsanitary environments, forced them to engage in hard labor, and guards often brutalized them. Howeverm several penitentiaries erected outside of the U.S. were modeled after the Pennsylvania System.
QUESTIONS: Take a tour of the Eastern State Penitentiary https://easternstate.org/historic-site
the world’s first penitentiary, which operated from 1829 to 1971. At the time of its planning, politicians and social reformers believed that the Eastern State Penitentiary embodied the revolutionary idea that crime was the result of environment, rather than a result of original sin or innate depravity. Moreover, people began to assert that society, and not just individuals, bore responsibility for criminal activity, and consequently had a duty to reform criminals. Ultimately, however, the Pennsylvania System’s strict code of solitary confinement, hard labor, and self-reflection did not work. In light of what you know about pre-Revolutionary War society, why was the penitentiary model revolutionary? Why do you think the Pennsylvania System, epitomized by the Eastern State Penitentiary, was ineffective? What methods and issues continue to plague the U.S. prison system today?
Your answer should be well written and a minimum of 250 words. Thanks! Be specific in your posts; don’t generalize. Cite examples to support your analysis; explain your assertions; and support your opinions with evidence. Fully answer each discussion question.
NEXT ASSIGNMENT: Module Current Event
Pick a current event that has national or international significance and that deal with issues of substance. (this year) You must include on the source of their current event. The first part of each summary will be a synopsis of the current event, and the second part will be the student’s thoughts/opinions regarding the current event. The essays will be a minimum of 100 – 150 words for the entire assignment. (please if you pick anything political or controversial on the opinion thought part try to keep neutral) Use the template provided
Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers
Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.
Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS
Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?
Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.
We write plagiarism Free Content
Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.
Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.
