American Correction System: Changes In Prison
Changes in Prison
The American Correction system has been in existence for over 130 years. It has been since the meeting of American Prison Congress on 1870 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Allen, Latessa & Ponder, 2013, p 30-31) The reformation was totally encompassing the inmate’s life in prison. The minds that met in 1870 were ahead of their times. With having put accountability and standards in the prison system created an improvement for the prisoner and the term he/she served. The beginnings were in Philadelphia at the Old Stone jails on Third and Market Streets. Its purpose was to hold debtors, and others awaiting trial. It has come a long way from the origins of the first jails of the American Revolutionary however faltering …show more content…
The state prison was the foundation for many more prisons to be built in the same fashion. Because of the rapidly growing population, a new jail was begun in 1773 on Walnut Street, behind the State House (later, Independence Hall). The new prison had the traditional layout of large rooms for the inmates. Initially, conditions were little better than they had been at the old jail. Prisoners awaiting trial might barter their clothes for liquor or be forcibly stripped upon entering by other inmates seeking funds for the bar. The result was great suffering when the weather turned cold. One estimate stated that 20 gallons of spirits were brought into the prison daily by the jailer for sale to the …show more content…
An alternative system known as the Auburn or Silent system developed elsewhere in the United States, with individual sleeping cells, sometimes as small as 2 feet by 6 feet, and work in congregate shops in silence during the day.
By the early decades of the 20th Century, neither system was used in the United States. However, the Separate System and its distinctive hub-and-spoke or radial architecture, which had developed in the Philadelphia prison, became the template for reform all over Europe, South America, and Asia. (Johnston, Ph.D., 2012)
As one can see, the prison institution went several dynamic changes. However, these models still served as a template for modern day correctional facilities. Views from society ultimately impact the improvements deemed necessary. This is why reforms were created for more rigid
The American Correction system has been in existence for over 130 years. It has been since the meeting of American Prison Congress on 1870 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Allen, Latessa & Ponder, 2013, p 30-31) The reformation was totally encompassing the inmate’s life in prison. The minds that met in 1870 were ahead of their times. With having put accountability and standards in the prison system created an improvement for the prisoner and the term he/she served. The beginnings were in Philadelphia at the Old Stone jails on Third and Market Streets. Its purpose was to hold debtors, and others awaiting trial. It has come a long way from the origins of the first jails of the American Revolutionary however faltering …show more content…
The state prison was the foundation for many more prisons to be built in the same fashion. Because of the rapidly growing population, a new jail was begun in 1773 on Walnut Street, behind the State House (later, Independence Hall). The new prison had the traditional layout of large rooms for the inmates. Initially, conditions were little better than they had been at the old jail. Prisoners awaiting trial might barter their clothes for liquor or be forcibly stripped upon entering by other inmates seeking funds for the bar. The result was great suffering when the weather turned cold. One estimate stated that 20 gallons of spirits were brought into the prison daily by the jailer for sale to the …show more content…
An alternative system known as the Auburn or Silent system developed elsewhere in the United States, with individual sleeping cells, sometimes as small as 2 feet by 6 feet, and work in congregate shops in silence during the day.
By the early decades of the 20th Century, neither system was used in the United States. However, the Separate System and its distinctive hub-and-spoke or radial architecture, which had developed in the Philadelphia prison, became the template for reform all over Europe, South America, and Asia. (Johnston, Ph.D., 2012)
As one can see, the prison institution went several dynamic changes. However, these models still served as a template for modern day correctional facilities. Views from society ultimately impact the improvements deemed necessary. This is why reforms were created for more rigid