chapter11

PRISONS AND JAILS

William Penn’s “Great Law”

◦ Pennsylvania, 1682.

◦ Forbade corporal punishment, and envisioned prisons as workhouses.

The Walnut Street Jail

◦ Philadelphia, 1890

◦ Silence and labor are the keys to rehabilitation.

◦ Suffered from overcrowding and excessive costs.

Contrast the Pennsylvania and the New York penitentiary theories of the 1800s.

The Pennsylvania System The New York System

Silence and in-cell labor

Constant solitary confinement (the separate system)

Only human contact is with visiting clergy

Solitary confinement leads to insanity in inmates

Inmates are allowed to work together, while maintaining silence (the congregate system)

The Reformers and the Progressives

◦ The “new penology”

◦ The medical model

The Reassertion of Punishment

List the factors that have caused the prison population to grow dramatically in the last several decades.

Factors in prison growth:

Enhancement and stricter enforcement of drug laws

Increased probability of incarceration

Inmates are serving more time for each crime

Federal prison growth

Rising incarceration rates of women

List and briefly describe the four types of prisons.

Types of Prisons:

◦ Maximum security

◦ Supermax

◦ Medium security

◦ Minimum security

Maximum-Security Prisons:

Designed and organized to control and disciplines dangerous felons

Fortresses, watchtowers, armed guards

Cell blocks/wings

Standard uniforms and dress codes

Inmate’s lives are security-based

Questions:

◦ Describe your reaction to the video. Considering this is a maximum security prison and these are the most violent offenders in Georgia, do you think the video was sympathetic to the offenders?

Supermax Prisons:

Prisons reserved for the “worst of the worst”

Controlled environment

Operate in a state of perpetual lockdown

Medium-Security Prisons:

House less dangerous inmates than maximum security

Less restrictive security than maximum security, usually fences instead of walls

Rehabilitative programming is available

Minimum-Security Prison: Designed for inmates who are a low-

security risk, such as non-violent and first-time offenders

Inmates have more freedom to move about the facility

Security is more relaxed, there are no armed guards

Rehabilitative programming and privileges are available

Describe the formal prison management system.

Formal Prison Management:

Chain of command (a strong hierarchy is vital)

May lack continuity of purpose (rehabilitation versus punishment)

List the reasons why private prisons can often be run more cheaply than public ones.

The Emergence of Private Prisons - correctional facilities operated by private corporations rather than

the government. Cost Efficiency

◦ Lower labor costs

◦ Competitive bidding

◦ Less red tape

Overcrowding and Outsourcing

The Argument Against Private Prisons

◦ Safety Concerns

◦ Philosophical Concerns

The Future of Privatization in the Corrections Industry

Summarize the distinction between jails and prisons, and indicate the importance of jails in the American correctional system.

The Function of Jails

◦ To hold those convicted of misdemeanors

◦ To hold individuals pre-trial

◦ Temporarily hold juveniles awaiting transfer

◦ To hold the mentally ill pending transfer

◦ To detain those who have violated probation of parole, or have “jumped-bail”

◦ To house inmates awaiting transfer to prison

◦ To operate community-based corrections programs such as home confinement and electronic monitoring

Questions:

◦ Do you believe Treatment Officers should be employed in all jails and prisons? How would this change the correctional facility?

◦ What role does/should rehabilitation play in today’s prison?

The Jail Population

• Pretrial detainees

• Sentenced Jail Inmates

• Other Jail Inmates

Explain how jails are administered.

Jail Administration

◦Most operated on a county level by an elected sheriff.

◦Jails often generate income.

Identify some of the consequences of our high rates of incarceration.

Positive consequence: A correlation with a drop in the crime rate.

Negative consequences: Social consequences for families and communities; disenfranchisement of inmates who lose their right to vote.