Federal Prison

State and Federal Prison Systems

The state prisons of today were founded on the basis of the 1800’s during the Age of Enlightenment. However, during the 18thcentury, different types of corporal punishment involved infliction of pain on the human body such as whippings, brandings, mutilation, stockades, and hangings and were held in public. Executions were elaborate, shocking affairs designed to act as a deterrent to those who watched. The English penal facilities referred to as a “gaol,” otherwise known as a jail, were used to house men, women, children, and the mentally ill. These individuals suffered from diseases, despair and malnutrition. The gaols were maintained by local authorities and designed to detain or hold people for court (Foster, 2006).

The “Department of Corrections,” houses all adult felons within a state including adults on probation and parole, juveniles on work release programs, live in halfway houses, and group homes. The state operates all jails and juvenile detention facilities holding pre-trial prisoners in smaller populations and promotes the “Community Corrections Act.”

Federal prisons are operated by the Department of Justice with different correctional institutions for gender segregation and sentencing classification. Federal prisons are designed for the confinement of individuals convicted of federal offenses such as drug smuggling across state lines or non-payment of taxes.

The penitentiary’s purpose was secular and spiritual in which punishment was no longer physical, but humane. Living conditions were cleaner, healthier and disease was avoided by separating inmates from each other preferably by isolation and created habits by enforcing strict rules. The secular institution was a place where the inmate expressed remorse and regret of their wrongdoing. This allowed the criminal to say, “I am sorry and promise not to do that again” (Foster, 2006).

The state...