Corrections EXAM 1 Review Breakdown of Time Periods 1 Colonial America 1600 1790 lasted nearly 200 yrs Social Context Small close knit essential to survival o Community had a consensus of what behaviors were criminal laws were written very broadly Individual colonies had a lot of discretion in creating the laws as long as none of the laws they created violated English Common Law o Most crimes were reported by citizens not law enforcement moral enforcers Obedience to God Parents Authority Figures Grim Determinism behavior class divisions was preordained by God o Trying to change it going against God Cause of Crime Criminal behavior was a result of sin offense against God community brought upon by the devil o Wide range of behaviors considered criminal blasphemy violations of faith drunkenness flirting etc This type of behavior must be punished Most things were considered criminal helped keep strict religious moral values Punishment Punishment was intended to be just that punishment o The intention was never to rehabilitate because crime was thought to be caused by sin and predetermined by God the offender could not be changed 2 Period of Transition 1790 1830 Social Context Community members received less harsh punishment than outsiders Fines most common form of punishment o Whippings were the 2nd most common form of punishment Banishment basically meant death Commonly used on foreigners and habitual offenders Other forms of punishment included shaming jails they were just holding spaces while offender awaited trial not intended as a punishment hangings public spectacle shock death offender thought they were going to be hanged but were later set free death penalty for recidivists murderers incorrigible youths The wealthier community members usually received a lesser punishment such as crime while the poor and foreigners had more harsh punishments Major changes in American culture establishment of norms and values consistent w capitalism democracy and egalitarianism o Capitalism theoretically allowed movement from one socioeconomic class to another Characterized by free market private decisions of price production ownership o Democracy theoretically being able to vote for government majority rule Reality was that many couldn t vote slaves women o Egalitarianism human equality again theoretical Social political and economic rights Population explosion due to urbanization Commercial boom factories corporations flourished Social economic and geographic mobility o Led to an individualistic lifestyle unlike in colonial America The Enlightenment o Began in Europe o Changed mindset from grim determinism to pleasure v pain Utilitarianism capacity to balance the level of pain pleasure We act if the pleasure outweighs the pain rational thought Jeremy Bentham People control their destiny and are born good instead of bad as thought in Colonial America Causes of Crime Rational choice Free will Punishment Incarceration was the most popular means of punishment The point of punishment was to deter o Specific Deterrence prevent offender from reoffending o General Deterrence prevent future crime by showing that if you general public offend you ll get caught and be punished Philosophy of Deterrence o Certainty if you commit a crime you will be punished o Celerity punishment had to be swift to be an effective deterrent o Severity punishment had to be severe enough to outweigh the pleasures obtained from criminal behavior Beccaria thought that certainty and swiftness were the most effective deterrents Classical School Principle of Legality can t be punished for a crime if there is no law establishing that behavior as criminal beforehand and the punishment must be stated as well o Unlike colonial America laws dictating crimes were broad and punishments based on discretion Principle of Strict Interpretation judges shouldn t have discretion in what constitutes a crime appropriate punishment It should be dictated by law Principle of Equality under the Law offenders who commit similar crimes should be given similar punishments regardless of socioeconomic status Principle of Presumption of Innocence innocent until proven guilty Principle of Minimal Criminalization make as few laws as necessary to maintain an ordered society Principle of Fair Criminal Procedure no capricious acts by the State Due process to determine guilt or innocence Penal Codes precise uniform Citizens knew exactly what constituted a crime o Designed to eliminate judicial discretion capricious punishment favoritism oppression of lower classes Popularity of the death penalty as a means for punishment decreased during the Transition Period o Corporal punishment was eliminated and so was shaming 2 reasons why incarceration became the primary form of punishment o Liberty was cherished incarceration powerful deterrent o Severity of punishment was determined by of yrs imprisoned First American prisons were in terrible shape o Old colonial jails and workhouses served as the prisons o Common herds all types of offenders placed in the same place o The problem with all the prisons led to the creation of the penitentiaries o Overcrowding was an issue prisoners usually received a pardon or completed less than 50 of their sentence 3 Age of the Penitentiary 1830 1870s Social Context Westward expansion immigration large cities led to population growth o Led to social instability and less close knit communities Economic expansion also disrupted traditional community life Alcohol gangs opium psychological disorders prostitution and violent crime became a serious problem o Violent crime was seen as increasing o Property crime was a major problem o Primarily among lower class and immigrants Causes of Crime Crime was a moral disease o Morally weakened families environment morally weak individuals who succumb to temptation and vice Middle and upper classes wanted to save wayward youth and the poor Punishment Control Medical model of crime control isolation penitence and hard work could cure the vices that led to crime Penitentiaries mechanism to cure the offender s moral disease They were also a model to society of order and discipline o They were large and primarily built in the North Unlike jails and in colonial America o Objectives of the penitentiary obedience routine silence labor separation of inmates and surveillance o 2 models Auburn and Pennsylvania gained attention in Europe Auburn inmates lived in isolation and silence but worked together more