Jails and Prisons History of Punishment Public Humiliation Lex Talionis Concept of Retaliation Exile Sending criminals away Workhouses Only vagrants not criminals Put the criminals to work Mutilation Amputation Branding Identify offenders Flogging Whipping Jail Purpose They receive individuals pending arraignment and hold them awaiting trail conviction or sentencing They readmit probation parole and bail bond violators and absconders They temporarily detain juveniles mentally ill and others pending transfers to appropriate facilities They hold individuals for the military protective custody for contempt and for the courts as witnesses They release convicted inmates to the community upon completion of their sentence They transfer inmates to federal state or other authorities They house inmates for federal state or other authorities because of overcrowding They operate community based programs with day reporting home detention electronic monitoring or other types of supervision They hold inmates sentenced to short terms BJS Statistics Jails hold 748 728 inmates 12 3 of these inmates are women Juveniles consist of 57 560 inmates More than half have been convicted of a crime of inmates are being detained while awaiting arraignment or trial 1 6 are being held on a prior sentence but awaiting arraignment or trial for new charge Jail authorities supervise an additional 60 632 individuals in the community Electronic monitoring 12 319 Home detention w o electronic monitoring 736 Day reporting 5 552 Community service 14 646 Weekend programs 9 871 Women and Jail Jailed women face a number of special problems Only 25 7 of nation s jails report having a system specifically designed to evaluate female inmates Not all jurisdictions provide separate housing areas for women Fewer than half are high school graduates More than 30 have a substance abuse problem at the time of admission In some parts of the country that figure may be as high as 70 4 are pregnant when they enter jail but 10 are reported to be pregnant on any given Women working in jail Women make up 22 of the corrections officer force The deployment of female personnel was disproportionately skewed towards jobs in the lower rank 60 of all support staff were women 1 in every 10 chief administrators was female Prisons and Jails started as a Humanitarian Alternative to corporal punishment Historical Development of Prisons 1790 Pennsylvania System A form of imprisonment developed by the Pennsylvania Quakers around 1790 as an alternative to corporal punishments Focused on repentance through solitary confinement and encouraged rehabilitation Emphasized rehabilitation through penance and the study of the bible was strongly encouraged of the inmates 1819 Auburn System A form of imprisonment developed in New York State around 1820 that depended on mass prisons where prisoners were held in congregate fashion and required to remain silent Emphasized labor and meditation Inmates would attend group workshops and they reintroduced corporal punishments when handling offenders 1877 The Reformatory Movement based on the use of the indeterminate sentence and a belief in the possibility of rehabilitation especially for youthful offenders Focused on education to reform inmates Norfolk Island an Australian prison when Maconochie was the warden He greatly improved the conditions of the prison and created a system of marks which inmates could earn credits to buy their freedom based on their behavior The Irish System Crofton incorporated the idea of early release from Norfolk Island and used it in the Irish system His system was based on progressive stages which ended with the prisoners being allowed to live and work in the community and being supervised occasionally He believed rehabilitation could not occur without reintegration into the community 1890 1935 The Industrial Era Most prisons were smelting steel manufactured cabinets molded tires and turned out many other goods for the open market The goal was to maximize use of the offender s labor during imprisonment There were six systems of inmate labor used during this period 1 Contract System Pay for labor 2 Piece price System Prisons were paid for items made 3 Lease System Inmates transferred over to contractor 4 Public Account System Goods sold on open market 5 State use System Goods produced only used by state 6 Public works System Prisoners maintain roads 1935 1945 Punitive Era 1945 1967 Treatment Era 1967 1980 Community Based Treatment Era 1980 1995 Warehouse Era 1995 Present Just Dessert Era Profile of State System One high security prison for long term high risk offenders One or more open type institutions for low risk nonviolent inmates One or more medium security institution for offenders who are not high risk One institution for adult women One or two institutions for young adults generally under the age of 25 One or more specialized mental hospital type security prisons for mentally ill prisoners Security Levels of Prisons Minimum Security Medium Security Maximum Security Supermax Security Lexington Kentucky houses the largest co ed prison Issues in Prisons Today Pregnancy Drug Abuse Overcrowding Educational Level of Inmates Mental Health Issues Private Prisons
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