Colonial America 1600 1790 Nature of Society Small close knit communities Strong English ties Religiously influenced varied by colony Community cohesion Paternal society Guiding Beliefs Ideology Crime as sin Conformist Not concerned with causes and cures of crime Retributive punishment was morally right and deserved Fear of indulging in the freedoms of the New World Responses to Crime Methods of control Shaming Banishment Physical punishment Control of prices and wages Assisting parents in child rearing Public punishment Retribution vs prevention What constituted illegal behavior could be determined on a situational basis If no law existed then community members could punish together Fines whippings mutilation and death Jails resembled houses No uniforms No lock step march Offenders had to pay for their time in jail No classification system No separation of genders Offenders housed in rooms not cells Jail was more of a holding place before trial vs punishment Summary of Colonial American Penology Colonial America was characterized as a period in history where society was made up small close knit communities They were influenced drastically by biblical teachings and the idea that God preordained everything As a result of these ideologies Colonial Americans were not focused on the causes and cures of crime To them the causes of crime derived from the forces of the Devil supporting their belief of Crime as a Sin Colonial American s were conformists since small knit communities represented them community cohesion worked as an agent of social control The nature of Colonial American society their religious ideology and fear of individuals indulging in the freedoms of the New World were the foundations for their retributive responses to crime Methods of control like shaming banishment public punishment structure of the jails and community member s influence on punishment illustrate how impacting community cohesion was in Colonial America The structures of jails in Colonial America were particularly interesting They resembled houses in that offenders did not wear uniforms stayed in rooms vs cells had to pay for their stay and mimicked family routines An example of how the jails tried to mimic family routines was through the life of the keeper warden He was expected to be married with kids and live under the same roof as the offenders Colonial American jails were not represented by an offender classification system nor did they separate based on gender The most frequently used form of punishment was fining with whipping following behind as the second most frequent The whippings took place the day that court was in session in public both men and women required to strip down to their waist The most common crime among women in Colonial America was bastardy and murder Treason and murder were crimes more known to men
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