CA 1 - INSTITUTIONAL CORRECTIONS

Topic No. 2

History of Correction, The Nature and Trends

Of Punishment

Prof. Christian Mark G. Rey

THREE REVOLUTIONS IN THE HISTORY OF
CORRECTIONS
1. Age of Reformation
It replaced corporal punishment, banishment/exile and physical disfigurement with penitentiary.
 
2. Age of Rehabilitation
Because criminals were assumed as handicapped people suffering from mental or emotional
deficiencies, they should therefore undergo therapy to heal their personal maladjustment.
 
3. Age of Reintegration
The society became the patient as well as the offender; the emphasis was placed on the pressures
exerted to the offender by the social groups where he belongs and on the society that regulates his
opportunities to achieve his goals.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON
CORRECTION

History has shown that there are three mail legal systems in the world, which
have been extended to and adopted by all countries aside from those that
produced them. In their chronological order, they are the Roman, Mohammedan
or Arabic and the Anglo-American Laws.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON
CORRECTION

5th and 11th Century - The Century of Dark Ages

Excessive and brutal measures of social control imposed by the church
 
13th Century
Securing Sanctuary - A criminal could avoid punishment by claiming refugee in a church for a
period of 90 days, at the end of which time has compelled to leave the realm by a road or path
assigned to him. In England at about 1468, torture as a form of punishment became prevalent.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON
CORRECTION

16th and 17th Century

The conceptualization of constructions of workhouse and house of corrections.
 
16th Century
Transportation of criminals in England was authorized during the 16th century. At the end of
century, Russia and other European countries followed this system. It partially relieved
overcrowding of prisoners. Transportation was abandoned in 1835.
GOLDEN AGE OF PENOLOGY (1870-1880)
Significant Events during the Golden Age

1. 1870 – The National Prison Association, now American Correctional Association, was originated and its first annual
Congress was held in Cincinati, Ohio. In this congress the Association adopted a “Declaration of Principles,” so
modern and comprehensive in scope that when it was revised in the prison Congress of 1933, few amendment were
made. Since its founding, the Association has held annual congress of corrections and has taken active leadership in
reform movements in the field of crime prevention and treatment of offender.

2. 1872 – The first International Prison Congress was held in London. It was attended by representatives of the
governments of the United States and European countries, as a result of this congress, the International Penal and
Penitentiary Commission, an inter-governmental organization, was established in 1875 with headquarters at the
Hague. IPPC held international congresses every five years. (In 1950, the IPPC was dissolved and its functions
transferred to the Social Defense Section of the United Nations.

3. The Elmira Reformatory, which was considered as ted forerunner of the modern penology, was opened in Elmira,
New York in 1876, the features of Elmira were a training school type of institutional program, social case work in the
institution, and extensive use of parole.

4. The first separate institutions for women were established in Indiana and Massachusetts.
GOLDEN AGE OF PENOLOGY (1870-1880)
Significant Events during the Golden Age

The reformatory system movement subdivided gradually following the opening of Elmira because
of the founder’s lack of faith in the effectiveness of the program the defect of the system was laid on
the lack of attempt to study criminal behavior from which to base treatment. By 1910, it was generally
conceded that the reformatory system in the United States was failure in practice. It was not until 1930
that the reformatory idea was revived as the direct result of the revamp of the educational program of
the Elmira Reformatory.
GOLDEN AGE OF PENOLOGY (1870-1880)
Industrial Prison Movement
This consisted in the operation of industries inside penal institution in order to support the
maintenance of prisons, especially during the economic depression that hit the United States
wherein almost every prison was converted into factory of manufacturing articles. Such prison-
made articles were sold in open market for profit.
Classification Movement
The movement for modern correctional reforms stated with the reorganization of the Federal
Prison System in 1930, placing the penal institutions of the United States under the centralized
jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, recruiting professionally trained and accentuating
institutional rehabilitation programs.
After the Second World War, the US Southern states undertook progressive penal reforms, 1n
1944, the California Prisons System was recognized which included the establishment of the
prison. Penal Institutions were classified according to program specialization and degree of
custody of inmates.
GOLDEN AGE OF PENOLOGY (1870-1880)
GAOLS or jails were common; used for pretrial detention facilities operated by the
English Sheriffs in England during this century
GALLEYS were also used for the transportation of criminals; these galleys are
long, low, narrow, single decked ships propelled by sails, usually vowed by
criminals.
HULKS decrepit transport, former warships used to house prisoners in the 18th
and 19th century. Also referred as “the floating hell” or the “the hell hole”. These
were abandoned warships converted into prison as means of relieving
congestions of prisoners.
 The Early Codes

In the prehistoric times, there were no written laws to

regulate human conduct. However, men still found
ways to avenge themselves from harm and injury
caused by another. They designed their own
system of justice of justice according to what they
believed was right and fair based on their way of
life beliefs and the norms of their times.

However, as civilizations continued to develop, so

did their laws and justice system. It was discovered
that some ancient civilizations already had written
laws and a form of criminal justice system during
their time. Some of which are the following:
1. Code of Hammurabi
• The Code of Hammurabi is believed to be the earliest
written code of punishment and Hammurabi, the king of
Babylon during the eighteenth century BC, is
recognized as the First Codifier of Laws. It was
believed that it was during his reign that the code was
created, thus, it was renamed after him. This code
which carved in stone, provided the first comprehensive
view of the laws during his time.

• The provisions of the Code were premised on the law of

talion or the principle of “an eye for an eye” a tooth for a
tooth”. Under the principle of the lex talionis or law of
talion, tit for tat or the law of equal retaliation, the
punishment should be the same as the harm inflicted on
the victim.
Figure 2. Statue of Hammurabi
 Figure 3. Figure 4.
Ancient Babylon A partial view of the ruins of
Babylon from Saddam
Hussein's Summer Palace
2. The Hittites

• The hittites existed about two centuries after the reign of Hammurabi and they eventually
conquered babylon

• The law of the Hittites may also be characterized as brutal, just like the Code of Hammurabi,
because they used death as punishment for many offenses.
3. Deuteronomy or the Mosaic Code

• Is the fifth book in the Bible and it contains the basis of

Jewish laws. It is believed that it was made by Moses.

• These laws were in the form of a covenant between

God and the people of Israel, given to Moses on the
mountains. They begin with the Ten Commandments
and go on to statutes and ordinances that God
commanded Moses to teach people.

• Collectively, the first five books of the Old Testament is

what referred to as the Law of Moses or the Mosaic
Code, from the name of Moses.

• The first five books contain the Ten Commandments

which are considered the foundation of law systems
throughout much of the Western World.
3. The Code of Draco

• The Code of Draco is considered to be

first written law of the Greek civilization.

• 621 BC, Draco appointed to codify the

laws

• This was codified by Draco, an Athenian

lawgiver who is considered the first
legislator of Athens, in the seventh
century BC

• This code is known for having severe

penalties.
4. The Code of Solon

• Solon, also an Athenian, was

appointed archon and was given
legislative powers during his time, he
repealed almost all the laws of the
Code of Draco and created laws that
provided just punishments.

• Solo had a great impact in the history

of law-making that now the term
“solon” is used to refer to an member
of Senate or House of
Representatives.
5. Rome’s Twelve Tables

• Roman law began with the Twelve Tables

which were written in the middle of the sixth
century BC. It was written in tables of bronze
and it became the foundation of all laws in
Rome.
The Laws of Islam
• The laws of Islam can be found in the Qur’an, the holy book of the Muslim religion. It is believed
that they were given by Allah to the prophet Mohammed.
PUNISHMENT
Is the redress that the state takes against an offending number of society that
usually involves pain and suffering.

Other definitions of Punishment:

• Penalty imposed, as for transgression of law any pain, penalty,
forfeiture, or confinement imposed by the court for a wrong doing.
• Punishment is a means of social control. It is a device to cause
people to become cohesive and to induce conformity.
• Punishment is the infliction of some sort of pain on the offender
for violating the law.

Penalty – refers to the sentence imposed; pain or suffering inflicted by the state
for the transgression of the law.
PUNISHMENT
Unanticipated Consequences of Punishment
1. Punishment often isolates the criminal, leaves in him a stigma and develops in
his person a strong resentment of authority.
2. It develops caution on part of the criminals, committing crimes during
nighttime.
3. It generally stops constructive efforts, lack of respect for the law, lack of
patriotism and loss of self-respect.
4. Public’s attitude by idolizing the criminal thus giving an offender higher status.
PUNISHMENT
Factors that contribute to make punishment the least effective means of reducing crime:
 
1. The use of punishment for deterrence must avoid the over severity of application that arose
public sympathy for the offender.
2. Those persons most likely to be imprisoned are already accustomed to experience deprivation
and frustration of goals routinely in daily life.
3. It is impossible to fashion a practical legal “Slide Rule” which will determine exact degrees of
retribution appropriate for the list of crimes ranging from simple theft to murder.
4. The simple application of naked coercion does not guarantee that the subject of its force will
alter their behavior to conform to new legal norms or to improve their conformity with norms
previously violated.
5. The possibility of deterrence varies with the chances of keeping the particular type of crime
secret and consequently of avoiding social reprobation.
PUNISHMENT
Penalties as to Gravity (Duration as)
1. Death Penalty - Capital punishment (Special laws as basis)
Reclusion Perpetua - a term of 20–40 years imprisonment. (RPC as basis ↓)
2. Reclusion Temporal - 12 years and 1 day to 20 years imprisonment
3. Prision Mayor - 6 years and 1 day to 12 years
4. Prison Correctional - 6 months and 1 day to 6 years
5. Arresto Mayor - 1 month and 1 day to 6 months
6. Arresto Menor - 1 day to 30 days
7. Bond to Keep the Peace - Discretionary on the part of the court
8. Destierro
In the primitive times, even when there was no
formal set of laws or formal structure of
government, people still found a way to devise a
method in which offenders may be punished for
their wrongdoings.

There were certain offenses in which the offended

party or his family were allowed and actually
expected to take revenge. This is what is known as
blood feuds

Expulsion is said to be
the precursor to
banishment or exile Another way of punishment the offender
and banishment is one was expulsion. The offender is shunned or
of the earliest form of turned away by his tribe, making life difficult
social vengeance for him because in primitive times, people
lived as a group and their survival depended
on their collective efforts.
 As punishment continued to evolve over time, an apt
definition for the term was also introduced.
Punishment has been defined as the redress that
the state takes against an offending member

History attests that since the ancient times up until

late 1800s, almost all wrongdoings were punished
by humiliation, corporal punishment or death.
Corporal punishment

Is a form of physical punishment that involves the

deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an
offense, or for the purpose of disciplining or
reforming wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or
behavior deemed unacceptable.

Judicial corporal punishment, on the other hand, is

a part of a criminal sentence ordered by court of
law.

The objective of imposing corporal punishment is to inflict physical

pain and suffering to the offender as a form of retribution or
revenge for the crime he has committed. Another is to deter the
offender and others from committing crimes, as this was usually
done in public for viewing of the masses.
 Public humiliation

Public Humiliation was usually a component of

corporal punishment was often performed in public
place, such as in plazas or in the market place, for
everyone to see. Part of the punishment was for the
offender to suffer the shame and embarrassment of
being displayed in public to be ridiculed ad insulted.

The offender could not get away or do anything to

protect himself from these people because this
People were even encouraged to punishment employed the use of pillory and stocks
participate in punishment by allowing
them to throw anything at the offender
such as rotten foods, dirt, mud, even
human wastes
This is stock and pillory
Not this one
Capital Punishment

It was also very common for capital punishment to

be imposed for varied crimes. Capital punishment
refers to the penalty of death. It is the most
serious of all penalties for it involves the loss of
life for the offender.
Early Forms of Punishment through
Public Humiliation
1. Pillory

Pillory is a wooden or metal device mounted on a post with

three holes to fit the head and the wrists. The offender had to
bend down while standing up, while his head and wrists are
trapped in the holes.

He had to remain in this position for a certain number of

hours, depending on the crime he committed. The pillory
and the offender were displayed in a public place where
he had to suffer the shame and humiliation in front of the
crowd. The crowd were allowed and even encouraged to
spit at the offender, throw rotten food, dirt, mud and even
human wastes to the offender as part of his punishment
2. Stocks

Stocks is a wooden device with holes for the wrists

and legs, but not for the head. An offender has to sit
down in order to lock his wrists and legs.

The stocks is a punishment device that is similar to

the pillory in terms of purpose but with slight
variation in terms of its design or appearance.
Early Forms Of Corporal Punishment
1. Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating
or whipping the human body. The word flagellation was
derived from the Latin word, flagellum which means whip.
It is done by repeatedly hitting the body, usually in the
back, with the use of a whip, cane, wood leather or other
objects hard enough to inflict pain.
2. Branding
Human branding or stigmatizing is the process in which a mark, usually a symbol
or ornamental pattern, is burned into the skin of a living person, with the intention
that the resulting scar makes it permanent.
It is done by pressing a
burning hot iron to the
person’s skin or body
which would result in a
wound caused by the
burning. The wound
would later become scar
in the form of the hot iron
used.

Figure 5. Branding
3. Stoning
Stoning or lapidation involves the tossing of heavy rocks
and stones at the victim until death
4. Mutilation
Mutilation is the cutting off of an organ of the body. As punishment, mutilation is
done in accordance with the law of retaliation or lex talionis.

this is the reason why the hands of the thieves were cut off, the tongues of liars
were pulled and torn out, the eyes of spies are gouged out and the genitals of
the rapists were severed.
Early forms of Capital Punishment
Beheading or Decapitation

Beheading or decapitation is the cutting off of the head from the body using an ax
or sword. This was regarded as the most honorable form of capital punishment
because a sword was a symbol that was both noble and aristocratic.
2. Beheading through the use of Guillotine

A guillotine is a device designed for carrying out executions by decapitation. It

consists of a tall upright frame in which a weighted and angled blade is raised to
the top and suspended. The condemned person is secured at the bottom of the
frame, with his or her neck held directly below the blade. The blade is then
released, to fall swiftly and sever the head from the body.
The name guillotine was derived from the name of the person who designed this
device, Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotine.
3. Strangulation through hanging

Hanging is the strangulation by used of rope while the body is suspended in air.
As opposed to decapitation, hanging was the standard non-honorable form of
death penalty.
4. Strangulation through the use of Garrote

Garroting is the strangulation through the use of metal collar. It is done through
the use of a garrote, a wooden chair with an attached metal in the shape of a
loop for neck. The offender was made to sit in the chair, bounded and the loop
was fitted at the neck. Execution is done by tightening the metal loop in the neck
by turning a crank or a wheel attached to it, until the person could no longer
breath which would result in his death.
5. Drawing and Quartering

This is one the most brutal methods of execution. An offender sentenced to this
death was first hanged until near death, taken down, their limbs tied to horses,
and then pulled apart as the horses ran in different directions. Disembowelment or
the ripping out of internal organs and the removal of genitals often occurred while
the accused was still alive.
6. Death by Musketry or Firing squad

Execution by firing squad, sometimes called Fusillading, is a method of capital

punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.
A firing squad refers to a group of soldiers. Usually, all members of the group are
instructed to fire simultaneously, thus preventing both disruption of the process by a
single member and identification of the member who fired the lethal shot. The
prisoner is typically blindfolded or hooded.
 REFERENCES

Handbook on INSTITUTIONAL CORRECTIONS by Dr. Linnet Dolinen-Gahar

BJMP Comprehensive Operations Manual 2015 Edition

Compiled Modules on Institutional Corrections by Prof. Maricel M. Monis

Compiled Review Materials on CORRECTIONS by Dean Brian Guerrero

https://www.bucor.gov.ph/home.html

https://www.bucor.gov.ph/programs.html

https://www.bucor.gov.ph/facilities.html
end