NCJ Number
44054
Date Published
1977
Length
18 pages
Annotation
THE DEVELOPMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SYSTEMS IS TRACED, WITH EMPHASIS ON THE ORIGINS OF THE CONFLICTING OBJECTIVES OF PUNISHMENT AND REFORM.
Abstract
THE PUNITIVE APPROACH ORIGINATED WITH PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES, WHICH INFORMALLY PUNISHED TRIBAL MEMBERS WHO COMMITTED ACTS REGARDED AS WRONG. ELEMENTARY COURT STRUCTURES WERE ESTABLISHED IN FEUDAL SOCIETIES, AND WRONGS CAME TO BE VIEWED AS CRIMES AGAINST THE GROUPS AS WELL AS AGAINST THE VICTIM. DEBATES THAT AROSE IN THE 18TH CENTURY CONCERNING THE WISDOM AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PUNITIVE APPROACH GAVE RISE TO THREE SCHOOLS OF CRIMINOLOGY: THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL, WHICH, ON THE BASIS OF THE DOCTRINE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HEDONISM, ADVOCATED THAT A MEASURED, FIXED AMOUNT OF PAIN BE APPLIED FOR EACH CRIMINAL ACT; THE NEOCLASSICAL SCHOOL, WHICH HELD THAT THE CLASSICAL DOCTRINE REQUIRED MODIFICATION IN DEALING WITH PERSONS NOT CAPABLE OF CALCULATING PLEASURES AND PAINS; AND THE POSITIVE SCHOOL, ACCORDING TO WHICH A LAWBREAKER WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ACTS AND SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED. THE ORIGINS OF THE TREATMENT APPROACH TO CORRECTIONS CAN BE FOUND IN THE POSITIVE SCHOOL. THE TREND IN CORRECTIONS HAS BEEN AWAY FROM THE PUNITIVE APPROACH AND TOWARD THE TREATMENT APPROACH. AT TIMES, BOTH APPROACHES ARE USED, OFTEN IN DIRECT CONFLICT. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RURAL-TO-URBAN TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY IN TERMS OF CORRECTIONAL PRACTICES IS NOTED. TYPOLOGICAL AND SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIMINOLOGY ARE OUTLINED. VARIETIES OF PUNISHMENT (PHYSICAL TORTURE, SOCIAL HUMILIATION, FINANCIAL LOSS, EXILE, DEATH, IMPRISONMENT) AND OF TREATMENT (COUNSELING, EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL TRAINING, LABOR, EARLY RELEASE, PAROLE, AND PROBATION) ARE DISCUSSED. IT IS POINTED OUT THAT THE OBJECTIVES OF IMPRISONMENT REMAIN UNCLEAR. A CHAPTER TEST AND A LIST OF REFERENCES AND FILMS ARE INCLUDED.