The Corrections System

Corrections in America
Chapter 1
Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the range of purposes served by the corrections system

2. Define the systems framework and explain why it is useful
3. Name the various components of the corrections system today and describe their
functions
4. Identify at least five key issues facing corrections today
The Purpose of Corrections

• Central purpose: Carry out criminal sentences

• What kinds of criminal sentences?

• Probation
• Parole
• Jails
• Prisons
Goals of Corrections

• Fair Punishment

• Community Protection
The Correctional System Today

• The U.S. correctional system employs more than 700,000 people in various roles
• The average cost is over $60 billion
• Of the 50 states, four tend to dominate the scene:
• California
• Florida
• New York
• Texas
Issues within Corrections
Managing the Correctional Organization
• Goals: Conflict! Lots of conflict! Punish more? Or work to rehabilitate?

• Funding: EXPENISVE! But, why? And how? Would you rather house more inmates or get your
trash picked up more than once a week?

• Bureaucracy: Not enough resources 

• Interagency Coordination: Lots of small organizations loosely tied together

Issues within Corrections
Working with Offenders
• Professional v. Nonprofessional Staff: probation officers, correctional officers, counselors, etc.

• Uncertain Technologies: Dealing with offenders can be a guessing game

• Exchange: A mutual transfer of resources based on decisions regarding the costs and benefits of alternative
actions

• Uncertainty about Correctional Strategies: Remember all the issues with funding, bureaucracy, and goals?
Yeah.. That’s uncertainity!
Issues within Corrections
Upholding Social Values
• Corrections is controversial
• People who work in corrections often do so because they find the filed an excellent place
to express their most cherished values
 Summary
Explaining our Learning Outcomes
1. Corrections is a means of social control. It holds people accused of crimes; carries out criminal sentences imposed
by courts, including both confinement and community supervision, and provides services for rehab.
2. A system is a complex whole consisting of interdependent parts whose operations are directed toward common goals
and influenced by the environment in which they function. It is a useful concept because it helps us understand how
the various aspects of corrections can affect others
3. Corrections consists of many subunits. Federal, state, private. Prisons, jails. Probation, parole.
4. Corrections faces several issues: dealing with conflicting goals, obtaining adequate funding, making the bureaucracy
more effective, coordinating correctional activity, and dealing with correctional uncertainty.
Intermission before Chapter 2 Begins

• Let’s watch this short, unrelated clip together:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxGPvFOykdg
The Early History of
Correctional Thought and
Practice
Chapter 2
Corrections in America
Spring 2022
Learning Objectives

• Understand the major forms of punishment from the Middle Ages to the American
Revolution
• Discuss the Enlightenment and how it affected corrections
• Understand the contribution of Cesare Beccaria and the classical school
• Discuss the work of John Howard and its influence on correctional reform
From the Middle Ages to the American Revolution:
Broadly
• Code of Hammurabi
• Established in 1750 B.C.E.
• Written code that outlined criminal behavior and the expected punishment

• Draconian Code- Extremely important to Western punishment development

• Introduced in Greece in 7th Century B.C.E
• Brutal, many different crimes had the punishment of death

• Until the 1200s, crime and vengeance were personal, often dealt with through Lex Talionis
• Lex Talionis: Law of retaliation- the principle that should correspond in degree and kind to the offense
From the Middle Ages to the American Revolution:
Broadly (Continued)
• Middle Ages: Secular Law was organized according to the feudal systems
• Because there was no central government, crimes within the community took on the character of
war, where everyone sought revenge for their transgressions.
• In response, in 1200, wergild was developed
• Wergild: Money paid to relatives of a murdered person or to the victim of a crime to compensate them and
to prevent a blood feud.

• From the end of the Middle Ages through the 1500s, the authority of government, and their
ability to try and punish, grew and criminal law became more fully developed.
• Before the 1800s, there were six main types of punishment regularly used in Europe
Six Main Types of Punishment

• Fines: A monetary payment generally made to the state or government

• Galley Slavery
• Imprisonment
• Transportation
• Corporal Punishment
• Death
Types of Punishment

Galley Slavery Imprisonment

• Forcing men to row ships • Early prisons had men, women, and children all housed
together
• At first used for prisoners of war, galley • Horrible conditions
slavery become popular for convicts • Reformation began in 1500s

• Was not abolished in Europe until the • “House of Correction” was formed: Detention facility
that combined major elements of a workhouse,
1700s poorhouse, and penal industry by discipling inmates
and making them work
Types of punishment (Continued)

Transportation Corporal Punishment/Death

• The practice of transplanting offenders from • Corporal Punishment: Punishment inflicted on the
the community to another region or land offenders body
• I.E. Australia and America were once penal • Most corporal punishments occurred I public
colonies used for transportation because it was seen as a deterrent // same with
executions
• This continued until the 1700s in America,
when the number of African salves who had
• Last public execution In America: 1936, in
been stolen and brought to America increased.
Kentucky
• The need for convict labor diminished and the
focus became slave labor
AND THEN REFORM!
The Enlightenment & Correctional Reform*
*Learning outcome!

• The Enlightenment: A cultural movement in England and France during the 1700s, when
concepts of liberalism, rationality, equality, and individualism dominated social and
political thinking
• Religious monopolies ended
• Advances in science and the scientific revolution
• Reformation of the current correctional climate
• Cesare Beccaria, Jeremy Bentham, and John Howard
Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)*
*learning outcome!

• Italian scholar who applied the rationalist philosophy of the Enlightenment to the criminal
justice system
• Argued that the only justification for punishment is utility, meaning the safety of the
community by preventing crime is of most importance
• 1764 book On Crimes and Punishments
• Focused on the idea that there was a major disconnect between the offenses and the
punishments being given out
• This brought about classical criminology
 Classical Criminology as developed by Beccaria

• Classical Criminology is a school of criminology that views behavior as stemming from free will,
that demands responsibility and accountability from all perpetrators and that stresses the need for
punishment severe enough to deter others.
Six Main Components of Classical Criminology
1. The basis of all social action must be utilitarian
2. Crime must be considered an injury to society and the measure of crime must be the extent of the injury
3. The prevention of crime is more important than the punishment of crime
4. Secret accusations and torture must be abolished
5. The purpose of punishment is crime deterrence, not social revenge
6. Imprisonment should be more widely employed, have better conditions, and be separated by age gender, and degree
of criminality
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
• English advocate of utilitarianism in prison management and discipline who argued for
the treatment and reform of prisoners
• “Hedonic Calculus”: Humans weight the pain and the pleasure of every activity and
instinctively gravitate towards actions that cause pleasure
• According to Bentham, criminals were childlike or unbalanced, lacking the discipline to
control their passions by reason (aka, irrational!)
• Like Beccaria, Bentham sought to emphasize deterrence and prevention of crime
• Based on his ideas, he developed a penitentiary (see next slide for photo)
Source

• Panopticon: A circular building with a glass roof

and cells on each story around the circumference
• Allowed for prison employees to keep watch of all
prisoners
• Never built in Europe

• However, two were built in America

• Western State Penitentiary, Pittsburgh (1825)
• Prison in Crest Hill (1916-1924)

• Quickly abandoned, though.

John Howard and the Birth of the Penitentiary*
*Learning outcome!

• English prisoner reformer whose book The State of Prisons in England and Wales
contributed greatly to the passage of the Penitentiary Act of 1779 by the House of
Commons
• Shocked by deplorable conditions in English prisons; wanted to have prisons like the
Maison de Force
• After public outrage, Howard, with others, drafted the Penitentiary Act of 1779
• A secure and sanitary structure
• Systematic inspection Four principles of the Act
• Abolition of fees
• Reformatory regimen
What Really Motivated Correctional Reform?

• Was it just nice guys being nice?

• Nahhhhhhh, money baby!

• Overall, good things came out of it though.

Learning Outcome Summary
1. From the middle ages to the American revolution, corrections consisted primarily of
galley slavery, imprisonment, transportation, corporal punishment and death
2. The latter part of the 18th century brought changes in penal policy. Rather than
stressing physical punishment of the offender, influential thinkers such as Beccaria,
Bentham, and Howard sought methods for reforming offenders.
3. Beccaria applied the rationalist philosophy of the enlightenment, with its emphasis on
individual rights, to the practices of the CJS. Beccaria set forth six principles, which
became the classical school of criminology
4. Howard investigated conditions in European prisons and jails. He was shocked by
what he found in English prisons. He rallied legislative interest in reform and was a
major proponent of the Penitentiary Act of 1779.
Intermission Before Chapter Three Begins!

• Take a lil breaky-break

• Get a snack, drink some water 

• Enjoy this cute video of a baby goat discovering a trampoline if you want:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L198jPLg_5o
The History of
Corrections in America
Chapter 3
Learning Outcomes
1. Describe ”The Great Law” of Pennsylvania and note its importance
2. Distinguish the basic assumptions of the penitentiary systems of Pennsylvania and New
York
3. Discuss the elements of the Cincinnati Declaration
4. Understand the reforms advocated by the Progressives
5. Discuss the assumptions of the medical model regarding the nature of criminal
behavior and its correction
6. Illustrate how the community model reflected the social and political values of the
1960s and 1970s
7. Describe the forces and events that led to the present crime control model
The Colonial Period
• In Colonial America, citizens lived under laws and practices that came over from England
with them
• Up until 1682, banishment, corporal punishment, the pillory, and death were common
• William Penn convinced Pennsylvania to adopt “The Great Law”*
• “The Great Law” was based on Quaker principles and emphasized hard labor in correctional
houses as punishment for most crimes; death was reserved for premeditated murder

• Jails: Used to hold people awaiting court action or unable to pay their debts

* Learning objective
The Arrival of the Penitentiary

• The population of America exploded between 1790 and 1830

• With the occurrence of the Revolution, the European ideas of the Enlightenment had
gained traction in America
• Reformers argued that if Americans were to become committed to humane, they had to
remove the barbarism
Penitentiary

• Definition: An institution intended to isolate prisoners from society and one another so
that they could reflect on their past misdeeds, repent, and thus undergo reformation
• Penitentiaries were very different than Jails or houses of corrections
• The American penitentiary attracted the world’s attention
• There were two main types of penitentiaries…
Types of Penitentiaries
Pennsylvania System Auburn System
• Solitary Confinement – all the time • Congregate System developed by Elam
• Inmates classified by offense Lynds (1784-1855)

• Based on five key principles • Developed in Auburn, New York at a

• Prisoners would not be treated vengefully new prison
• Solitary would prevent further corruption • Contract labor system
• In isolation, offenders would reflect
• Solitary would be punishment b/c humans
are social by nature
• Solitary would be economical b/c
prisoners would not need long periods of
time to repent
Name Goal Implementation Method Activity

Pennsylvania Redemption of the Isolation, penance, Inmates are kept in Bible reading,
System offender through contemplation, their cells for working on crafts
the well-ordered labor, silence eating, sleeping, in cell
routine of the and working
prison
Auburn System Redemption of the Strict discipline, Inmates sleep in Working together
offenders through obedience, labor, their cells but in shops making
the well-ordered silence come together to goods to be sold
routine of the eat and work by the state
prison
The Development of Prisons in the South and West –
Southern Penology
• “Black Codes”- laws designed to control newly freed African Americans

• Funds to construct new prisons were scarce in the wake of the civil war

• Lease System: A system under which inmates were leased to contractors who provided
prisoners with food and clothing in exchange for their labor
The Development of Prisons in the South and West –
Western Penology
• Prior to statehood in the West, many inmates were held in territorial facilities or federal
military posts
• The Spanish jails in California became inadequate after California became a state
•
The Reformatory Movement

• By the mid-1800s, reformers had become disillusioned with the idea of penitentiaries
• Rehabilitation and deterrence had not been achieved

• Enoch Cobb Wines (1806-1879)

The Reformatory Movement- Cincinnati, 1870

• Along with Enoch Cobb Wines, many other American penal reformers had come about
by 1870
• The National Prison Association (NPA) had a meeting in Cincinnati in 1870
• Declaration of Principles: New design for penology; that prison operations should stem
from a philosophy of inmate change, with reformation rewarded by release
• Sentences of indeterminate length
• Classification of prisoners
 The Reformatory Movement- Elmira Reformatory

• Reformatory: An institution for young offenders that emphasized training, a mark system of classification,
indeterminate sentences, and parole
• First reformatory took shape at 1876 at Elmira, NY state
• An individualized work-and-education treatment program was prescribed

• Once an offender was sentenced to Elmira, prison administrators could set a release date
• Three grade system
• Grade 1: Necessary for release; requires completion of school and work assignments (6 months)
• Grade 2: Inmates start here; neutral ground
• Grade 3: Punishment for violating rules; must spend three months on grade 3 before eligibility to move to grade 2
The Rise of the Progressives
• “Age of Reform”- The first two decades of the 1900s
• Marked by political action and changes in social thought

• The Progressives- Mainly upper-status individuals; optimistic about solving the problems
of modern society
• Believed they could rehabilitate criminals through individualized treatment
Individualized Treatment and the Positivist School

• Progressives thought it necessary to know and understand each offender's life history
• Correctional administrators need the discretion to diagnose everyone, prescribe treatment,
and schedule release to the community
• The Positivist School: An approach to criminology based on the assumptions that
human behavior us a product of biological, economic, psychological and social
factors and that the scientific method can be applied to ascertain the causes of
individual behavior
Positivist School: Three Basic Assumptions

1. Criminal behavior is not the result of free will but stems from factors over which the
individual has no control: biological characteristics, psychological maladjustments, and
sociological conditions

2. Criminals can be treated so that they can lead crime-free lives

3. Treatment must center on the individual and the individual’s problems

Progressive Reforms
• Progressives pursued two main strategies for changing correctional methods
1. Improving conditions in social environments that seemed to be breeding grounds for crime
2. Rehabilitate individual offenders

• Concentrations focused on urban areas; worked on improving neighborhood conditions,

better public health, building playgrounds and public housing, etc.
• The Progressives and their allies implemented three main elements:
1. Probation
2. Indeterminate Sentencing
3. Parole
The Rise of the Medical Model
• Medical Model: A model of corrections based on the assumption that criminal
behavior is caused by social, psychological, or biological deficiencies that require
treatment.
• A major shift occurring here, thanks to many, including Howard Gill (1890-1989)
• Gill was a Progressive who designed Norfolk State Prison Colony
• Norfolk was designed like a college campus; inmates wore regular clothing
• Gill was removed as Norfolk’s superintendent after the escape of 4 inmates

• 1950s- Era of Treatment

• Many critics; argued it was impossible to develop rapport needed to cure inmates
From Medical Model to Community Model
• Social and political values greatly influence correctional thoughts and practices
• The way society views and handles corrections swings very much on a pendulum

• In the 1960s, there was a marked swing from the Medical Model to the Community
Model, with the implementation of community corrections
• Community Corrections: Model of corrections based on the assumption that
reintegrating the offender into the community should be the goal of the CJ system
• CC called for a radical departure from the medical models emphasis on treatment in prison
 The Crime Control Model: Swinging Pendulum
• In the 1970s, when a resurgence of crime took place, politicians realized they must do something
to maintain their office
• There was a decline in the use of rehabilitation based on the findings of Robert Martinson
(“Nothing Works doctrine)
• Nothing Works: Martinson conducted a study examining rehabilitation programming and essentially
found that “nothing works”; therefore, it was a waste of time and resources to continue to try to
rehabilitate.  This led to the emergence of the crime control model.

• Crime Control Model of Corrections: A model of corrections based on the assumption that
criminal behavior can be controlled by more use of incarceration and other forms of strict
supervision
• Punitive ethos that permeated the 1980s and 1990s; “Get Tough on Crime”
 History of Corrections Table
Colonial Penitentiary Reformatory Progressive Medical Community Crime Control
(1600s-1790s) (1790s-1870s) (1870s-1890s) (1890s-1930s) (1930s-1960s) (1960s-1970s) (1970s-
Present)

Features
Anglican Code; Separate Indeterminate Individual case Rehabilitation as Reintegration into Determinate
Capital and confinement, reform sentencing, approach, juvenile focus, community, sentences,
corporal of individual, parole, courts psychological avoidance of mandatory
punishment penance rehabilitative testing incarceration sentences, risk
programs management

Philosophical Basis
Religious law; Enlightenment, Crime as a moral The Age of Biomedical Civil rights Crime control,
Doctrine of healing power of disease, Reform, Positivist science, psychiatry movement, critique rising crime rates,
predestination suffering criminals as school, focus on and psychology, of prisons political shift to
“victims of offender crime as a signal of the right, new
social disorder” “distress” punitive agenda
Learning Outcome Summary
1. With the arrival in 1682 by of William Penn, Pennsylvania adopted “The Great Law”,
which was based on Quaker principles and emphasized hard labor in a house of
corrections as punishment for most crimes
2. The penitentiary idea emphasized the concept of separate confinement. Inmates were
held in isolation, spending their time on craft work and considering their transgressions
3. A Declaration of Principles was adopted at the 1870 meeting of the National Prison
Association, held in Cincinnati. The declaration stated that prisons should be organized
to encourage reformation, rewarding it with release. Advocated for indeterminate
sentences and the classification of prisons based on character and improvement.
Learning Outcome Summary (Continued)
4. The Progressives looked to social, economic, biological, and psychological rather than
religious or moral explanations for the causes of crime. They advocated the development of
probation, indeterminate sentences, treatment programs, and parole
5. Beginning in the 1930s, reformers put forward the medical model of corrections, which
viewed criminal behavior as caused by psychological or biological deficiencies. They held
corrections should diagnose and treat these deficiencies using a variety of programs.
6. During the 1960s and 1970s, dissatisfaction with the medical model led to the
development of community corrections. Offenders should receive opportunities for success
in the community and corrections should emphasize the rebuilding of an offender’s ties to
the community
Learning Outcome Summary (Continued)

7. The rise of crime in the late 1960s and questions about the effectiveness of rehabilitative
programs rough pressure to shift a crime control model of corrections, with greater use of
incarceration and other forms of strict supervision