NCJ Number
49412
Date Published
1961
Length
522 pages
Annotation
A HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF NEW YORK PRISON CONDITIONS, PRISONER TREATMENT, DISCIPLINARY MEASURES, AND PRISON REFORM MOVEMENTS BETWEEN 1796 AND 1861 IS PRESENTED.
Abstract
NEW YORK BORROWED ITS EARLY PENAL POLICY FROM EUROPEAN NATIONS, INCLUDING A COARSE DIET FOR INMATES, UNIFORMS, CELLULAR LIVING, AND CONFINEMENT TO WORKHOUSES. THE IDEAS AND EFFORTS OF JOHN HOWARD, AND LATER THOMAS EDDY, DID MUCH TO INFLUENCE PENAL REFORM. A SYSTEM WAS DESIGNED ON HUMANITARIAN LINES, AND CORPORAL PUNISHMENT WAS LEGALLY ABOLISHED BETWEEN 1816 AND 1819. EDDY ALSO INSTIGATED LEGISLATION THAT LED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF A STATE PENITENTIARY IN THE LATE 1700'S. OVERCROWDED CONDITIONS IN THE NEWGATE PRISON RESULTED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AUBURN PRISON IN 1809. PRISON MANAGEMENT AND REFORMS ARE DESCRIBED IN RELATION TO THIS FACILITY, IN WHICH COMPLETE SOLITUDE AND INACTIVITY WERE FIRST USED AS PENAL MEASURES. A NEW AUBURN SYSTEM, INITIATED IN THE 1820'S, PRESCRIBED UNIFORM TREATMENT FOR ALL PRISONERS, MAINTENANCE OF ABSOLUTE SILENCE AMONG INMATES, AND HARD LABOR. DESCRIPTIONS OF PRISON STRUCTURE, PRISON CONDITIONS, AND TREATMENT OF INMATES ARE PRESENTED FOR BOTH THE AUBURN AND SING SING FACILITIES. THE CONDITIONS ENDURED BY FEMALE INMATES DURING THIS PERIOD ARE ALSO CONSIDERED. FACTORS MENTIONED AS AFFECTING PRISON MANAGEMENT ARE FINANCIAL RESOURCES, POLITICAL INFLUENCES, AND THE SIZE OF THE INMATE POPULATION FOR A FACILITY. THE PRACTICE OF HIRING OUT PRISONERS FOR LABOR IS DISCUSSED, ALONG WITH THE USE OF PRISON LABOR AS A PENAL MEASURE. FROM 1839-1848, A MORE POSITIVE APPROACH WAS TAKEN IN PENAL TREATMENT, BUT THE DECADE OF THE 1850'S PRODUCED A DECLINE IN THE QUALITY OF PENAL POLICY BECAUSE OF FRUSTRATIONS FROM FORMER ATTEMPTS TO DISCIPLINE AND REHABILITATE, POLITICAL CORRUPTION, FAULTY ADMINISTRATION, AND FINANCIAL PROBLEMS. THE EPILOGUE SUMMARIZES THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT PENAL PHILOSOPHIES ON PRISON MANAGEMENT, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS INCLUDED. (DAG)