Throughout the centuries, both the system and the concept of prison have undergone many radical changes that eventually led to the formation of the prison as we know it now. In the 16th and 17th centuries, prison tended to be a place where criminals were kept in it while awaiting their punishment. It was a place, where criminals were held, rather than a means of punishment. In fact, criminals, at that time, were publically punished, rather than imprisoned, in the most torturous ways such as whipping, and slaughtering. However, in the 18th century, people in charge decided to put an end to these cruel methods of punishing. They came up with new methods of punishing instead of using torture in punishing criminals. In fact, the incarceration with hard labor was the new method of punishing criminals. Thus, the prison itself became a tool of punishment.…
In 1841, Dorothea Dix taught Sunday School at a women’s prison, and noticed the horrible conditions they were living in. She went around to other prisons, observing their living conditions, before making a document and presenting it to the Massachusetts legislature. This made the prison budgets larger, but Dorothea continued going around the states and establishing mental asylums. She even traveled to Europe, and met with Pope Pius IX, and convinced him to construct a new hospital for the mentally ill.…
Education, religion, and the condition of the poor were all aspects of society that women felt morally obliged to improve. Dorothea’s action in asylum reform portrays how women of the time maneuvered through the legal world of men in order to gain social reform. Although, Dorothea returned to America in 1837, it was not until 1841 when invited by Reverend John T. G. Nichols to teach a Sunday school in the East Cambridge jail in New England, did Dorothea begin her…
Reforms in prisons and insane asylums began to take flight in America as Dorothea Dix, an American reformer, began advocating for safe places for the mentally unstable to reside. Her pursuit of such an institution began in 1941. Dix helped to form five phychiatric hospitals in America. Phychiatric hospitals were given a bad reputation when some hospitals were not treating the patients, rather their main concern was giving the mentally unstable a place to stay where they would not be a disturbance to the rest of society. Also during this time, prisons were holding anyone who had commited massive crimes to those who were unworthy of arrest. Men, women, and children were all detained the same prisons despite the severity of their crimes. Because…
The religious, penal, education, and feminist reform movements sought to expand democratic ideals, and that is exactly what they did. In the 1820s, Charles G. Finney, a Presbyterian minister, led the Second Great Awakening, or the religious revival. Finney preached that harlots, drunkards, and infidels could be saved through hard work and a steadfast faith in God (Document B). The religious revival was brought on to fight against deism. Finney pushed forth the creation of city churches, where everyone could come together to improve society. The religious reform movement expanded democratic ideals by telling people that they could take control of their own fate and could have the same rights as others if they just worked hard and had a strong faith in god. It pushed the equality of everyone in the country and also gave people the idea of perfecting society by starting other reform movements. Prior to the penal reform movement, the mentally ill and criminals were put together in prisons. The punishments were cruel and the conditions were unbearable. Dorothea Dix pushed the separation of the ill from the criminal and for the improvement of mental institutions to care for the mentally ill. As a result of the asylum reform movement, the penal reform movement was brought forward. Before, prisoners were just serving time in jail, not gaining anything from the experience. They gained no new skill and were sure to commit crimes again, and eventually land themselves right back into prison. This led to prisons becoming penitentiaries…
Every day is the same to you; you wake up, read the paper, and drink your coffee. You work at the East Cambridge Prison, where you keep the inmates in order by whipping them, chaining them up, and by not giving them food. You know that the conditions are wrong and inhumane, but it’s a well-paying job. You don’t speak out because you’re worried about your family and three kids at home who need to be fed. Stories like these occurred in prisons and mental institutions all around the world. The article, “Dorothea Lynde Dix,” describes the awful conditions Dorothea Dix witnessed in prisons and mental institutions: “... flogged, starved, chained, physically and sexually abused by their keepers, and left…
Prison reforms expanded democratic ideals through the change in policies and mission statements. Debtor prisons were abolished, the number of capitol crimes was reduced, and prison became a place of reform as well as punishment. As shown in document A, the Fourth Annual Report, Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the City of New York, 1829, stated, "To confine these youthful criminals . . . where little can be leaned but the ways of the wicked." It is saying that the prisons originally were bad and that reforming people would be useless and therefore the reform of the prisons would fix this problem and therefore be able to save individual rights and become clean.…
1. What reforms did Elizabeth Fry lobby for the early 1800s? How have women’s prisons changed?…
In the years following the Second Great Awakening of the United States, numerous reform factions began to spring up around the country, fueled by recent evangelical ideals. Seeking to improve and expand democratic ideals, many of these factions undertook drastic measures to achieve what they believed to be a proper aspiration. Nevertheless, it would be farfetched to claim that such reform movements within the US resulted in any positive outcomes, and it would be much more logical to claim that many of the so-called reformers were in fact trying to further their own ambitions. By keeping penitentiary, church, and alcohol reforms as a pretense for egotistical purposes, they were able to attract an elite following of people that that acted with…
Abstract: Based on the ideals of a penitentiary, what it should be like? What was the principal goal of a penitentiary? What were the differences between the two prison models? What were the benefits and drawbacks of each model? Which model was considered to be the winning model?…
In the 1800s, there were many reformers that wanted to create change, who stood up for what they believed. One of those reformers was Dorothea Dix. She fought for health related issues and spoke for those that could not speak for themselves. She believed that everyone deserved to have a right to health and that there is a need for reform in America. Dorothea spoke up for rehabilitation, prison reforms, federal and state funding for mental health institutions, and other related issues which many people were afraid to speak about or simply did not care enough about.…
Discuss the aims and development of the penal system within the UK over the last 200 years.…
The corrections system in America began mostly with the arrival of William Penn and his “Great Law.” This was back in 1682; the “Great Law” was based on humane principals and also focused on hard labor as a punishment. The corrections system really began to take hold in North America in the late 1700’s with the idea’s and philosophy of Beccaria, Bentham, and Howard. These philosophies were based on the thought that prisoners could be treated and reformed back into society. This hard labor was used as an alternative to other cruel forms of punishments that were used in earlier times such as physical abuse or even brutal death.…
Reform groups near the turn of the century were interested in the moral changes of the way the government and businesses were run. They wanted the government to be more open and listen to the people. Also, they wanted the government to put more effort into protecting the well being of all citizens. This would require government action to regulate business, improve public health and safety and make sure that every citizen had the chance to succeed and to be happy.…
The Asylum Movement went on into the 1800's. People began to realize how cruel the insane or mentally ill were treated and that people who really didn't necessarily need to be "locked up" were thrown into these places for bogus reasons.…