The American Prison System: History, Theories, and Challenges

Probation Officer

Investigation and Supervision

Jeremy Bentham

The Panopticon (New Type of Prison Layout)

Anomie/Strain Theory

Excessive Materialism as a Limited Means to Success

Quakers

Hard labor. 13th Amendment -> Section 1 allows prison slavery.

Prisoner vs. prisoner violence: rate of 28 per 1000

50 state systems (92% of all facilities) + federal, private (8%)

Main goal of corrections: to protect the public

(United States) Prison population: 25%

60% on probation in the US system

Intensive supervision, $70 billion, official immunity, absconding --> reasons for probation revocation

School of Thought: Cause and Effect

Positivists, labeling theory --> Stigmatization

Michael Walker

Prison in California, stayed 165 days (6 months), contemporary pain of imprisonment

- Findings: When people started to get segregated, that's when gangs formed. (Once you're locked up and hidden, people stop caring about you.)

Deterrence: Demotivate Individuals

• General: Putting a person's face on a wall of shoplifters
• Specific: Giving someone a speeding ticket

Foucault

Capital punishment is not deterrence because it is hidden from the public; says modern punishment destroys a person's soul.

Women in prison: around 7%

35% of women are in prison for violent offenses

Crime Control (Assembly Line)

Core: Repression of criminal conduct.

Goal: Efficiency (high arrests/convictions + speed, finality, presumption of guilt)

Due Process (Obstacle Course)

Core: Respect for the fact-finding process.

Goal: Reliability (low errors, legitimacy, legal guilt)

The Brand: The Aryan Brotherhood

Initially a white supremacist group formed in San Quentin in 1964, Pelican Bay

Four Traditional Goals of Punishment

1. Retribution: Punishment is deserved and should be proportional to the crimes committed.
2. Deterrence: Punishment discourages individuals from committing new crimes.
3. Incapacitation: Punishment removes the ability of individuals to commit new crimes (selective incapacitation).
4. Rehabilitation: Punishment restores the ability of convicted offenders to abide by social rules.

Emile Durkheim

Crime is normal; punishment should be stable.

Beccaria's "On Crimes and Punishments" (1764)

Punishment is about preventing crime (deterrence) --> Impact on codes

Bentham's "Hedonic Calculus" (1796)

Punishment needs to alter the calculation of pleasure/pain. (The Principle of Utility)

John Howard and the Penitentiary (1779)

Reform triggered by unsanitary and unruly conditions in prisons. Focus on labor.

Rothman: Individualized Treatment

Forms of Criminal Sanction

• Probation
• Intermediate sanctions
• Incarceration
• Death

Police Are:

• Judge
• Jury
• Executioner (Lipsky's "street-level" bureaucrats)

6.9 million in correctional supervision in the US (1/3 in prisons/jails) ----> Parole board releases 90%

Davis Proposes a Number of Alternatives:

• The demilitarization of schools
• The revitalization of accessible education for all age groups
• The formation of free physical and mental healthcare for all
• The development of a justice system based on reparation and reconciliation

Old Newgate Prison

Connecticut (first prison structure in the US)

Auburn Penitentiary

Prison discipline first instituted

Public Wrong vs. Private Wrong

• Public wrong: Crimes against society
• Private wrong: Crimes against an individual