Prison System

Assignment: The Prison System

Prison systems in early America resembled the prison system that was founded

In England. In England facilities were used to house offenders awaiting their fate, trial,

execution, or expulsion from the community. This is the basis of our current incarceration

system. Early penitentiary systems were more likely to use corporal punishment and even

the death penalty. William Penn incorporated “Great Law” in the late 1600’s, which

steered away from corporal punishment and enforced that felons repay their victims or be

placed in types of work-camps. The country’s first penitentiary which was built in

Philadelphia, enforced the belief that silence and labor would be the best chance for

prisoners to repent for their crimes. Prisoners were housed in isolation and kept busy with

hard work. Due to the fact of overcrowding however, this system could not operate with

silence between prisoners. Population forced inmates to share quarters and the costs to

operate the institution was too high.

The New York correction system which was started in the late 1700’s, focused on

obedience, which was much different than the Philadelphia system that focused on

rehabilitation. In the New York system, inmates ate and worked together with silence

enforced by prison staff. This system was the cornerstone of prisons that would follow.

These prisons were cheaper to build and operate and did not require as much space.

In the late 1800’s, New York’s Elmira Prison rewarded inmates with early release

upon good behavior. If an inmate was less than cooperative and behaved badly, extra

time would be added to their sentence. Progressive sentencing focused on operated on the

basis that treatment not punishment for the inmates was better for society. The

Progressives were responsible for community based enforcement, parole, and probation.

Today’s prison system...