8.1: History and Purpose of the American Correctional System

The history of the American Correctional system has grown and evolved over the centuries to its current state. When the country began, we relied heavily on our British roots to guide our systems, and corrections is no different. Colonial America didn’t begin with prison or incarceration. Because the populations of early colonies were so small and communities close knit, punishment for the violation of laws and social norms were handled swiftly. Violators were punished by being placed in stocks or pillory, wearing a scarlet letter and similar public shaming methods. Strangers to the community would be banished or physical punishments imposed.

However as American began to grow, this type of punishment would no longer work. After the Revolution, the founding fathers borrowed many of the English ways, but adapt it to their new-found ideals of freedom, their concept of criminal justice was no different. Perhaps because of its history of aversion to the harshness of the English Criminal code and its recent victory in the Revolutionary War, America was also particularly receptive to emerging Enlightenment thought challenging the premises of the old social order. So America sought to design a more unique penal system. One which focused on correcting behavior of the offenders. America began to build prisons which they intended to house offenders to protect the community but also correct their behavior. The Walnut Street Prison was one of the earliest examples of this new thought on prison. They sought to provide prisons a place where they could reflect on their actions and feel “penance” for their actions. Whereby we derived our word “penitentiary.”

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Eastern State Penitentiary. Image is used under a CC BY 2.0.

In order to understand prisons, we must look at the reasons we punish offenders and what are our goals. There are five common types of punishment: Retribution, restoration incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Retribution and restoration both center on the victim and society. Retribution is probably one of the oldest forms of punishment and most commonly known as “an eye for an eye.” Historically, when wronged the victim would expect retribution or some payment proportionate to the loss he or she incurred. This punishment is also compared to vengeance. Restoration is a similar concept in which a debt is owed to the victim or society because of the offender’s criminal actions. The offender and victim must meet to allow the victim to be heard and the offender make amends and receive forgiveness. This is most often used with juvenile offenders.

Incapacitation

Incapacitation is just as it sounds, incarcerate offenders (incapacitate) so they can not harm society. Of course, this is one of the most expensive means of corrections. According to the Bureau of Prisons the average cost of incarceration for Federal Inmates is $36,299.25 per year for 2017. Deterrence is another concept whereby society “deters” crime through punishment. First, it assumes specific deterrence which means a person thinks through a crime and doesn’t act because the consequence (punishment) is not worth it. The other type of deterrence is general deterrence where society sees another one receives punishment for an act, and they do not want to suffer the same punishment so don’t act. Both of these concepts require swift punishment to occur to be effective.

Deterrence

The main purpose of deterrence it to prevent future crime by deterring offenders and the public from committing a crime due to fear of punishment. There two main types of deterrence, specific and general. Specific deterrence is the prevention of committing new crimes by one specific offender. An example of specific deterrence is when an individual is caught for a crime and is punished, either incarceration, probation, fine or condition of sentence. This punishment needs to be severe enough to prevent future crime. The punishment must fit the crime. The other form of deterrence is general deterrence. This is where a person sees the criminal get punished and therefore does not commit a crime because they do not want to receive the same punishment. In order for these theories to work effectively, punishment must certain and timely. However, deterrence may not work in all cases because offenders think they can get away with the crime and avoid apprehension and punishment.

Retribution

Retribution is the theory that when someone commits a crime, the person harmed (the victim) deserves reprisal or “pay back” for the loss they received. Another common understanding of this concept is “an eye for an eye” which dates back centuries where the victim was able to exact revenge when they were harmed or wronged by another person. Today retribution does not just pertain to an individual, but more often society as a whole. For example, the use of illegal drugs does not have a specific victim. However, the harm done to society through other actions and crimes is why drug use is considered illegal.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation has been a reoccurring theme in American corrections throughout the centuries. The first prison built in America sought to correct offender behavior. Rehabilitation focuses on correcting offender behavior, often in a confined setting (prison) or in the community under supervision (probation or parole) to guiding the offender to overcome barriers that contributed to the commission of the crime. Often considered the “medical” model of punishment because it sought to treat the offender rather than strictly punish. This model was used extensively through the 1970’s until a study indicated rehabilitation didn’t work. Though this study was later invalidated, it changed the prison for many decades. A shift occurred in the 2000’s and more institutions are returning to rehabilitation as a form of reducing prison population and curbing recidivism.

Restoration

Restoration is a concept of justice where the offender and the victim (either a person or society) work together to resolve the issue. The offender must make amends to the victim but also has a say in the process. Restoration is a more collaborative approach to resolving crimes and is often used in crimes involving juveniles. This process allows the offender to express remorse for committing the criminal act and be forgiven. This is a relatively new way of viewing crime and punishment and as a result there has been a focus on developing restorative justice programs across the United States.