NCJ Number
93016
Date Published
1983
Length
273 pages
Annotation
This pictorial history of the American prison is divided into the following sections: the European influence on American prisons, colonial America, the Auburn and Pennsylvania systems, the reformatory era, through World War I, post-World War I through World War II, 1950-70, and 1970-80.
Abstract
In examining the European influence on American prisons, attention is given to the custom of sanctuary, gaols, Bridewell houses, workhouses, banishment, convict hulks, the gaol at Wymondham, John Howard, and the Penitentiary Act of 1779. The concept of moving from punishment to correction is also explored. The section on the colonial era covers correctional legislation of the period (Sanguinary laws), and innovations in prison concepts as reflected in prison architecture (Newgate of Connecticut, the Walnut Street Jail, the Pennsylvania system, and Newgate Prison of New York). Other significant factors influencing prisons in this period were the work of Dr. Benjamin Rush, the Panopticon plan, and the first prison reform society (the Philadelphia Society for the Alleviation of the Miseries of Public Prisons). The Auburn and Pennsylvania systems are portrayed in a separate chapter. In another chapter the reformatory era is portrayed, with particular attention to the Elmira Reformatory and the Bertillon system. Information on the American incarceration rate is also provided. The period through World War I deals with the industrial period, prison farms, population growth, inadequate care, prison policy, 'the old prison discipline,' and capital punishment. The chapter focusing on the period of post-World War I through World War II considers fundamental changes, overcrowding, the demand for unskilled labor, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, women in prisons, co-correctional facilities, juvenile offenders, and the war effort. For the period 1950-70, attention is given to classification, the 'telephone pole' plan, less formal facilities, and riots and disturbances. The concluding section on 1970-80's considers overcrowding as a continuing problem, inmate litigation, riots, standards and accreditation, visits, and prison construction and correctional architecture. The presentation concludes with a look at the future.