Prisons and Jails

Chapter 12 & 13 In Your Textbook

John MasseyCriminal Justice

Prisons Instruments of punishment Over 200 years

Walnut Street Jail (1790) Pennsylvania Silence and labor provide the best hope for

rehabilitation Separated inmates from society and each other Eventually overcrowding

Penn System (1820’s) Result of the failure of the Walnut Street Jail Prisoners worked, slept, and ate alone in their

cells Very little contact with other humans

New York System (1831) Congregate system or the Auburn System Silence and labor but inmates worked and ate

together More popular, prisons afterwards followed this

system

Reform The Progressives

Positivist school of criminology Crime is caused by social, economic and biological factors Medical model of prisons emerged Treatment and programs

Robert Martinson “What Works” Prisons had remained unchanged 1960’s, more rehab/treatment, less punishment Martinson’s report showed that no rehab programs work This led to the first “get-tough” programs

The 1980’s Prison population boom Crime increasing

1990’s Crime rates begin to drop Prison populations still on the rise

4 reasons for this: More likely to be sentenced to

prison (get tough) More likely to serve more time for

your crime (three-strikes, truth-in-sentencing, reduction of good time)

Community corrections programs either cut or underfunded

Rising numbers for female offenders

Types of Prisons Four types – maximum, medium, minimum, supermax

Supermax Most severe form Red Onion, Wallens Ridge

Maximum Dangerous inmates/felons Built to prevent escape, intense supervision

Medium Less dangerous offenders Less restrictive than max prison, most offenders here

Minimum Inmates who pose little threat Great deal of freedom/movement, resembles college campus 1st time offenders, non-violent, well-behavd

Inside the prison Most offenders don’t stay in one prison during their

entire sentence Classification

Warden Superintendent of prison

Privatizing Prisons Ran by private organizations instead of govt. Efficiency and cost-effectiveness Save the government money

Jails Different from prisons Counties and cities Awaiting trial, charged w/ misdemeanors, sentences less

than 1 year – 700,000 people in jail on any given day Overflow from prisons

Total institutions Think of prisons as total institutions Provide all necessities for existence Encompass every aspect of inmate’s life Prisoner cannot leave institution

Prisonization Adapt and accept the prison society and

subculture

Prison Code Social norms and values, the do’s and don’ts

Parole Conditional release of a prisoner after portion

of sentence served Abolished in many states Dependant on a number of factors

The rabble hypothesis John Irwin, “The Jail” Those in jail are the sewer of society

Not members of organizations Few social networks Unusual values and beliefs

The jail is the holding place for the “sewage”