CJA/234
Corrections History and Institutions Incarceration began in the United States as a more acceptable and humane way to manage criminal behavior than physical punishment, workhouses, or exile. The earliest places of incarceration were first known as lock-ups or jails and were under local authority’s control. According to Axia Course Materials (2011) these housing facilities were under the maintenance of each county and state by local officials, such as the local sheriff. Jails were lock-ups for offenders in which criminal activity for an offense was pending from small non-threatening infractions, such as loitering to housing other offenders for serious crimes, such as murder. They …show more content…
According to Ortmeier (2006) some believe Newgate Prison in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1773, was the first established prison but most historians continue to cite the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia, as the first American established prison. According to Schmalleger (2010) prisons in the United States progressed through nine stages of development; each emphasizing a different correctional philosophy. These stages include:
Penitentiary Era (1790-1825). The modeling of 30 prisons after the prison in Auburn, New York, promoting congregate labor, rehabilitation for inmates, and deterrence (Schmalleger, 2010).
Mass Prison Era (1825-1876). Construction of 35 additional prisons with the emphasis on punishment, incapacitation, and deterrence were in this era. This period also includes the opening of New York State’s Sing- Sing Prison in 1825 and California’s San Quentin in 1852.Iniatially the modeling of the Pennsylvania’s Eastern State penitentiary was from the Quaker principles but was converted to the Auburn style during this period (Schmalleger, …show more content…
This era was promoting incapacitation rather than rehabilitation, replacing indeterminate sentencing by determinate sentencing, and the discretion of the parole boards were restricted. Overcrowding of the prisons were flourishing and access to the rehabilitation programs was limited (Schmalleger, 2010).
Just-Deserts Era (1995- present). This era focuses on the retribution and punishment of offenders and supports the ware-housing of the prisoners. There is little concern for rehabilitation and emphasis is on the determinate and mandatory sentencing, three strikes laws, and the death penalty (Schmalleger, 2010). Classification of secure facilities are minimum, medium, maximum, or super maximum and the inmates within the prisons are assigned to the selective facilities depending on his or her level of dangerousness and escape risk. An institution may have various security levels within the prison and special housing units for the inmates who violate the prisons rules, pose a threat to other inmates, or need special protection from other inmates (Ortmeier, 2006). Jails are regional, county, or city facilities of confinement in which a custodial supervision of the offenders are detained. According to Axia (2011) jails would have these