Corrections Flashcards
What were the Philosophical Roots of Punishment?
The Mediveal system based on absolute power of the sovereign and the judgment of God
What were some the execution style methods?
Death by boiling, being broken on/by the wheel, hanging, drawing, quartering, beheading, burning and drowning.
When was the first prison built? and what was it used for?
The Tower of London, built in 1078, mainly used for prisoners awaiting trial or execution.
When was the first House of Corrections established? and what were they used for?
- Edinburgh Bridewell established in England after 1556.
- Used as holding pens and had no reformative logic behind them.
What was the importance of mass incarceration? (3 reasons)
- Modernisation following Enlightenment (less people being executed, more humane punishment)
- Economic and power shift from rural aristocracy to urban bourgeoisie
- Migration from rural to urban (slums and higher crime rates)
Who were the Enlightenment thinkers?
- Thomas Hobbes
- Charles Montesquieu
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
What did Thomas Hobbes come up with?
The social contract, which binds all people together within society
What did Charles Montesquieu come up with?
the ‘separation of powers’ which is the idea that executive, judicial and administrative arms of the government should be independent from one another
What diid Jean Jacques Rousseau come up with?
Believed that in his natural state, man lives in peace and harmony but is corrupted by private property.
What was Cesare Beccaria’s ideas on crime and punishment?
- Did not agree with capital punishment
- Applied utilitarian principles to the treatment of criminals (argued that all punishment should be aimed at restoring reason and morality)
What was the purpose of transportation?
It was to cleanse society and transport criminals away to other countries
True or false: the treatment of prisoners on transportation was harsh and brutal.
True
What were old ships hulks used as? and what were the problems with these?
They were used as prisons on the Thames River 19th century. They were crowded, damp and rat-infested.
What did John Howard do?
surveyed prisons and found that many had terrible conditions (influenced by Beccaria and made basic improvements to prisons)
What was one of the things Jeremy Bentham did?
Influenced by Beccaria, argued that prisons should be places where morality and reason can be restored (illustrated in ‘introduction to the principles of Morality and Reason)
What prison did Jeremy Bentham design?
The Panopticon in 1789.
What was the purpose behind the Panopticon?
The idea of the Panopticon was that the prisoner would be kept in solitary confinement during the course of his sentence, with nothing to do but reflect on the error of his ways.
True or false: because of inadequate technology, only a few Panopticons were built. For example, in Statesville, Illinois.
True.
What did William Penn establish?
Founded the the seperate system.
What did the seperate system involve?
Included solitude, silence, reflection and repentance.
When was the first Penitentiary built? and what sort of ‘plan’ was it built on?
- The first Penitentiary was built in Pennsylvania 1829, Contained 400 cells and used solitary confinement and silent penitence.
- Radial Plan, which was an adaption of the Panopticon
What did the silent system involve and what country was it used in first?
- Prisoners would be allowed to work together but not allowed to talk.
- United States
What was the first prison based on the ‘silent system’ called?
Auburn Prison, New York, built between 1819 and 1823 (competing system to the ‘seperate system’ in Pennsylvania)
What was the lockstep method?
Lockstep was a method used under the silent system of moving prisoners around while preventing them from speaking to each other
What was the telegraph pole associated with?
the pattern most often associated with silent prisons is the telegraph pole.
What was the architecture of ‘the big house’ like?
It has imposing Gothic architecture of a typical American ‘Big House’ prison in the silent era
What system did Europe prefer?
The seperate system
“It is the conclusion that separation of one prisoner from another is the only basis on which reformatory discipline can be established with any hope of success”
What design and system did London adopt?
- Radial design
2. Seperate system
What did prisoners do at the Pentonville, London prison?
They had leather masks that prevented them from recognizing one another and they were forbidden to speak .
Why was the seperate system short lived?
- Overcrowding
- Too costly to build new ones
- Prison psychosis
What did Edmund du Cane do?
Du Cane abandoned the separate system and replaced it with one based on punitive deterrence, meaningless work, and harsh discipline
What was one example of ‘meaningless work’ that the UK prisons adopted?
the crank.
Prisoners had to produce a certain number of revolutions per day, and the resistance of the crank could be increased or reduced.
What happened post 1895 in the UK prisons?
Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brise abolished the crank and the treadmill and attempted to make prisons truly reformative by introducing trade training and meaningful work.
Fill in the blank:
New Zealand ——– their prisons
Centralised
What did Captain Arthur Hume do and how was he influenced by prisons in the UK?
He arrived in New Zealand in 1880 to manage and centralise the country’s prison system.
- He worked in the UK prisons such as Dartmoor and Wormwood Srubs
What was one prison that Captain Arthur Hume established? And how did it relate to UK prisons
Mt Cook Prison, Wellington, 1882
Shows clear evidence of British influence with its radial construction.
Why was Mt Eden Prison so famous in terms of the Humme era?
Designed in 1882 and prisoners would exercise in a single file, Like England, without talking or speaking to another (similar to the lock step method under the silent system)
It was an offence in NZ prisons until 1961
What was ‘The New Method’ based on?
The focus of this ‘New Method’ was on agriculture and healthy outdoor work.
Who founded ‘The New Method’?
Charles Matthews, Controller-General of Prisons 1912-1924.
Why was agriculture apart of ‘The New Method’?
Because Agriculture was becoming the mainstay of the economy
What were Agrarian programmes?
Programmes that reformed prisoners through hard work and instilling skills for use after release as a productive member of the economy.
(Similar to the prison in the Uk in terms of meaningful work)
What were some examples of prisons that were created during ‘The New Method’?
Invercargill Prison (1910) and Waikune Prison (opened as a logging camp).
