CORRECTIONAL ADMINISTRATION

I. Basic Definition of Terms

PENOLOGY Defined:
 The study of punishment for crime or criminal offender. It includes the study of control and crime
through punishment of criminal offenders.
 The term is derived from the Latin word “POENA” which means pain or suffering.
 Penology is otherwise known as Penal Science. It is actually a division of criminology that deals
with prison management and the treatment of offenders and concerned itself with the philosophy
and practice of society in its effort to repress criminal offender activities.
 Penology has stood in the past and, for the most part, still stand for the policy of inflicting
punishment on the offender as a consequence of his wrongdoing.
Penal Management:
 Refers to the manner or practice of managing or controlling peace of confinement as in jails or
prisons.
CORRECTION Defined:
 A branch of the Criminal Justice System concerned with the custody, supervision and
rehabilitation of criminal offenders.
 It is that field of criminal justice administration which utilizes the body of knowledge and
practices of the government and the society in general involving the processes of handling
individuals who have been convicted of offenses for purposes of crime prevention and control.
 It is the study of jail/prison management and administration as well as the rehabilitation and
reformation of criminals.
 It is a generic term that includes all government agencies, facilities, programs, procedures,
personnel, and techniques concerned with the investigation, intake, custody, confinement,
supervision, or treatment of alleged offenders.
Correction as a Process:
 Refers to the reorientation of the criminal offenders to prevent him or her from repeating his
deviant or delinquent actions without the necessity of taking punitive actions but rather the
introduction of individual measures of reformation.
Correctional Administration:
 The study and practice of systematic management of jail and prison and other institution
concerned with the custody, treatment, and rehabilitation of criminal offenders.
II. Correction and the Criminal Justice System
The Criminal Justice System is the machinery of any government in the control and prevention of
crimes and criminality. It is composed of the pillars of justice such as: The Law Enforcement Pillar
(Police), Prosecution Pillar, the Court Pillar, the Correction Pillar, and the Community Pillar.
Correction as one of the pillars of Criminal Justice System is considered as the weakest pillar.
This is because of its failure to deter individuals in committing crimes as well as the reformation of
inmates. This is evident in the increasing number of inmates in the jails or prisons. Hence, the need of
prison management is necessary to rehabilitate inmates and transform them to become law-abiding
citizens after their release.
Correction is the fourth pillar of the criminal justice system. This pillar takes over once the
accused, after having been found guilty, is meted out the penalty for the crime he committed. He can
apply for probation or he could be turned over to a non-institutional or institutional agency or facility.
When the penalty is imprisonment, the sentence is carried out either in the municipal, provincial
or national penitentiary depending on the length of the sentence meted out.
III. Historical Perspective on Corrections
Important Dates and Events in the History of Corrections:
13th Century – Securing Sanctuary
In the 13th C, a criminal could avoid punishment by claiming refugee in a church for a period of
40 days at the end of which time he has compelled to leave the realm by a road or path assigned to
him.
1468 (England) - Torture as a form of punishment became prevalent.
16th Century – Transportation of criminal in England was authorized. At the end of the 16 th C,
Russian and other European Countries followed this system. It partially relieved overcrowding of
prison. Transportation was abandoned in 1835.
17th C to 18th C – Death Penalty became prevalent as a form of punishment.
Reasons why Death Penalty became the usual Punishment during this period and thereafter:
1. Death of outlaws became a “protection for the English people”. It is because the people during
this period did not totally believe yet in the ability to a strong police to combat criminals
2. People lack confidence in the transportation of criminals. Goals and Galleys became center of
corruption and ineffective instruments of punishment.
3. Doctrine of Crude Intimidation appeared or seemed to be logical form of treat in order to deter or
prevent the people from violating the law.
4. The assumption was that, the Ruling Class is tasked to protect property rights
5. And maintain public peace and order. The system of maintaining public order had little
consideration or it did not recognize the social and economic condition of the lower working
class. The lawmakers and enforcers used death penalty to cover property loss or damage with our
further contemplating the value of life of other people.
GOALS – (Jails) – pretrial detention facilities operated by English sheriff.
GALLEYS – long, low, narrow, single decked ships propelled by sails, usually rowed by criminals.
A type of ship used for transportation of criminals in the 16 th century.
HULKS – decrepit transport, former warships used to house prisoners in the late 18 th and 19th
century. These were abandoned warships converted into prisons as means of relieving congestion of
prisoners. They were also called “floating hells”.
The Primary School of Penology
 1. The Classical school – it maintains the “doctrine of Psychological Hedonism” or “free will”.
That the individuals calculate pleasures and pains in advance of action and regulations his
conduct by the result of his calculations.
2. The Neo-classical School – It maintained that while the classical doctrine is correct in
general, it should be modified in the certain details. Since children and lunatics cannot
calculate the differences of pleasure from pain, they should not be regarded as criminals,
hence they should be free from punishment.
3. The Positivist/Italian School – the school that denied individuals responsibility and reflected
to non-punitive reactions to crime and criminality. It adheres the crime, as any other act, is a
natural phenomenon. Criminals are considered as a sick individual who need to be treated by
treatment programs rather than punitive action against them.
The Primitive Society
In the beginning of civilization, acts are characterized by behavioral controls categorized as: Forbidden
acts, accepted acts, and those acts are encouraged.
Crimes, violence, rebellious acts and other acts, which are expressly prohibited by the society, fall as
forbidden acts. Accepted acts are those that can be beneficial to the welfare of the society such as early
traditions and practices, folkways, norms, those that are controlled by social rules, and laws.
Encourage acts are anything approved by the majority which is believed to be the beneficial of the
common good. These things include marrying, having a children, crop production, growing foods, etc.
Punishment is required when those who intend to violate the rules do not comply with these practices.
The complex society gradually evolved changing the social rules into the more structured sanction to
prevent the violations of those rules essential to group survival. These sanctions have been codified into
written rules or laws. And the reward for obeying those laws is simply the ability to function as a
respected and productive member of society.
Redress (Compensation) of wrong act
Retaliation (Personal Vengeance) – the earliest remedy for a wrong act to any one (in the primitive
society). The concept of personal revenge by the victim’s family or tribe against the family or tribe of the
offender, hence “blood feuds” was accepted in the early primitive societies.
Fines and Punishment – Customs has exerted effort and great force among primitive societies. The
acceptance of vengeance in the form of payment (castle, foods, personal services, etc) became accepted as
dictated by traditions. As tribal leaders, elders and later kings came into power, they begun to exert their
authority on the negotiations. Wrongdoers could choose to stay away from the proceeding (trial by
ordeal) but if they refuse to abide by the law imposed, they well be declared to be an outlaw.
Early Code
History has shown that there are three main legal system in the word, they are the Roman, Mohammendan
or Arabic and Anglo-American Laws. Among the three, it was Roman law that has the most lasting most
pervading influence. The Roman private law (Which include Criminal Law.
1. Babylonian and Sumerian Codes
 a. Code of King Hammurabi (Hammurabic Code)- Babylon, about 1990 BC, credited as the
oldest code prescribing savage punishment, but in fact, Sumerian codes were nearly one
hundred years older.
2. Roman and Greek Codes
a. Justinian Code – 6th C.A.D. , Emperior Justinian of Rome wrote his code of law. An effort to
match a desirable amount of punishment to all possible crimes. The law did not survive due
to the fall of the Roman Empire but left a foundation of Western Legal Codes.
 The Twelve Tables (XII Tabulae), (451-450 BC) – represent the earliest codification of
Roman Law incorporated into the Justinian Code.
b. Greek Code of Draco – In Greece, the Code of Draco, harsh code that provide same
punishment for both citizens and the slave as it incorporates primitive concepts (Vengeance,
Blood Feuds).
3. The Burgundian Code (500 A.D) – specified punishment according to the social class of
offenders, dividing them into: Nobles, Middle class and Lower class specifying the value of the
life of each person according to social status.
Early Codes (Philippine Setting)
The Philippines is one of the many countries that came under the influence of the Roman Law.
History has shown that the Roman Empire reached its greatest extent to most of continental Europe
such as Spain, Portugal, French and all of Central Europe.
Eventually, the Spanish Civil Code became effective in the Philippines on December 7, 1889, the
“Conquistadores” and the “Korido Penal”(The Revised Penal Code Today, 1903) promulgated by the
King of Spain, Roman Law prinsiples (Coquia, Prinsiples of Roman Law, 1996)
Mostly tribal traditions, during the Pre-Spanish Philippines. There were also laws that were written
which includes:
a) The Code of Kalantiao (promulgated in1433) – the most extensive and severe law that
prescribed harsh punishment.
b) The Maragtas Code (By Datu Sumakwel)
c) Sikatuna Law
Early Prisons:
Mamertine Prison – the only early Roman place of confinement which built under the main sewer of
Rome in 64 B.C
The most popular workhouse was the BRIDEWELL WORKHOUSE(1557) in London which was built
for the employment and housing of English prisoners.
Wulnut Street Jail – originally construct as a detention jail in Philadelphia. It was converted into a state
prison and became the first American Penitentiary.
Early prisons in the Philippines:
In 1847, the first Bilibid Prison was constructed and became the central place of confinement for Filipino
Prisoners by virtue of the Royal Decree of the Spanish Crown.
In 1936, the City of Manila exchanges its Muntinlupa property with the Bureau of Prisons originally
intended as a site for boys’ training school. Today, the old Bilibid Prisons is now being used as the
Manila City Jail, jfamous as the “, May Halique Estate”.
IV. THE EMERGENCY OF SECULAR LAW
4th A.D. – Secular Laws were advocated by Christian philosophers who recognizes the need for justice.
Some of the proponents these laws were St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Three Laws were distinguished:
1. External Law (Lex Externa)
2. Natural Law (Lex Naturalis)
3. Human Law (Lex Humana)
V. PUNISHMENT
Punishment:
 It is the redress that the state takes against an offending member of society that usually involve
pain and suffering.
 It is also the penalty imposed on the offender for a crime or wrongdoing.
Ancient Forms of Punishment:
1. Death Penalty – affected by burning, beheading, hanging, breaking at the wheels, pillory, and other
forms of medieval executions.
2. Physical torture – affected by maiming, mutilation, whipping and other inhumane or barbaric forms
of inflicting pain
3. Social Degradation - putting the offender into shame or humiliation.
4. Banishment or Exile – the sending or putting away of an offender which was carried out either by
prohibited against coming into a specified territory such as an island to where the offender has been
removed.
5. Other similar forms of punishment like transportation and slavery.
Early Forms of Prison Discipline:
1. Hard Labor – productive works
2. Deprivation – deprivation of everything except the bare essential of existence
3. Monotomy – giving the same food that is “off” diet,
4. Uniformity – “we treat the prisoners alike”. “the fault of one is the fault of all”.
5. Mass Movement – mass living in cell blocks, mass eating, mass recreation. Mas bathing.
6. Degradation –uttering insulting words or languages on the part of prison staff to the prisoners to
degrade.
7. Corporal Punishment – imposing brutal punishment or employing physical force to intimidate a
adequate inmate.
8. Isolation or Solitary Confinement – non- communication, Limited news, “the lone wolf”.
Contemporary Form of Punishment: