The Period of Transition 1790 1830 Nature of Society Post revolutionary America Change in government Early Industrialization Geographic mobility Emergence of Urban Environments Modernity National Government development of federal laws postal roads lighthouse Societies no longer close knit and navigational systems Increased crime after the American Revolution Factory vs field work Population boom Decline in a patriarchal society Individualism vs communalism Shift in types of criminal activity occurring Economic boom Guiding Beliefs Ideology Individual treatment Free Will Classical School Crime as reasoned behavior Deterrence Enlightenment humans are naturally good and can improve themselves Prevention of crime Punishments should be more painful than pleasurable Rehabilitation Capitalism Free markets Egalitarianism Utilitarianism unless punishment can deter crime it only adds to human suffering Dr Benjamin Rush seeing others distress produces sympathy and desire to end it Edward Livingston when people see the reasons of laws they ll obey them Beccaria duration of punishment is more important than the intensity Scientific explanations of crime Divine Justice penal codes should treat individuals with dignity Jeremy Bentham mankind is ruled by pleasure and pain Self interest vs Self sacrifice Responses to Crime Methods of Control Incarceration vs public shame and torture Specific and General Deterrence Abandonment of public punishments Police vs watchmen Abolishment of the death penalty Walling in vs banishment Jury Understanding the Concepts of Guiding Beliefs Ideology A Deterrence The purpose of deterrence is to prevent crime There are two types of deterrence specific which refers to punishments that prevent offenders from recommitting and general which refers to consequences that prevent individuals from committing due to the fear of the consequence B Enlightenment The American Enlightenment was the period where scientific reasoning was applied to to politics science and the time where religious tolerance replaced formal religious control C Classical School Utilitarian s Jeremy Bentham and Cesare Beccaria created the Classical School of thought with the idea that people have a free will in making decisions This concept also emphasized that punishment can be a deterrent for crime as long as the punishment is proportional to the crime Classicism focuses more on the legal character of the offense vs the character of the offender D Capitalism Capitalism is an economic and political system where a countries trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit rather than by the state E Egalitarianism Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors the equality for all people The ideas that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political economic social and civil rights Egalitarianism also advocates for the decentralization of power and removing any economic inequalities among people The idea of a free market is supported under this trend of thought F Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a theory on how one should act claiming that we should maximize our pleasure and minimize our pain Utilitarian s follow the principle of utility which states that we naturally can t help but seek out pleasure and avoid pain They view criminals as those destroying the greater happiness of the community which the greater happiness of the community is the goal in utilitarianism G Dr Benjamin Rush Dr Benjamin Rush was a humanitarian who believed that distress of all kinds when seen produced sympathy and disposition to relieve it H Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham was a utilitarian who helped form the Classical School of thought I Edward Livingston Edward Livingston influenced the utilitarian movement with his suggestion that penal codes need to be easily understood codified and uniform He believed that when people see the reasons for laws they d obey them This was a reflection of utilitarian classification of wrongs and supported the elimination of religious influence on criminal laws J Beccaria Beccaria was a utilitarian who helped form the Classical School of thought Beccaria believed that the duration of punishment was more significant than the intensity of punishment This explains why he did not believe that barbarism should be a form of punishment These ideas along with his opinion that the more closely the punishment follows the crime the more useful it will be support utilitarianism ideals How Methods of Control Related to The Period of Transition s Ideologies 1 Police vs Watchmen a An example that supports how the period of transition focused more on the legal character of the offense vs the character of the offender Police officers enforce laws and arrest those who don t follow them They look for crimes taking place whereas watchmen focused more on how people were behaving and developing ways to punish that behavior 2 Abolishment of the death penalty a The abolishment of the death penalty was a utilitarian move Utilitarianism supports the Classical School of thought which under this ideal death as a punishment exceeds the crime committed Under the Classical School of thought the punishment must be proportional to the crime 3 Removing public punishment a Removing public punishment denied Americans from judging punishment themselves This removal supports Egalitarianism 4 Incarceration Incarceration replaced public shame and torture and deprived offenders their liberties Incarceration served as a representation of deterrence with the purpose to reduce the number of capital offenses 5 Walling in vs Banishment Walling in refers to separating offenders with a wall This replaced banishment which was popular because of the fear of outsiders a a 6 Jury a The Jury was supposed to alter people s perceptions of pleasure and pain This was an idea that supported Jeremy Bentham and Cesare Beccaria s utilitarian views in their formation of the Classical School of thought Bentham believed that mankind is ruled by pleasure and pain therefore having the jury alter these perceptions could influence offenders to change their original perceptions of pleasure and pain How The Period of Transition s Methods of Control Failed 1 Colonial jails really weren t replaced prison s were just extensions to them a The extension vs replacement supports American Penology s argument of Net widening The tendency to extend control over more of the population vs providing an alternative b Could support the theme