CRM 1301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Boarding School, Kingston Penitentiary, Total Institution
26 Jun 2018
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LECTURE 6: PRISONS
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT…
What causes crime?
oWho we associate with (peer pressure), mental disorders, addiction,
environment
How can we control crime?
oHelping people through social programs, proactive through community
policing, recreational programs/afterschool activities (targeting children
before they go down that path), trying to educate people
What should be the function of prisons?
oRehabilitation, re-integration, to punish, separate the dangerous offenders
from society to protect it, rates of recidivism to reduce
In the system “too soft” on criminals?
oEvery offender gets re-integrated into society, sometimes when things are
done a certain way we don’t always question it
oDepends how we look at it, in the Netherlands it is extremely lenient and
offenders have lots of freedom, they focus on re-integration and
Netherlands has very low rates of recidivism
CONSERVATIVE, LIBERAL AND RADICAL
Conservative (ruled by classical criminology)
oReasons for crime
Social injustices (racism; society doesn’t meet their needs and
crime is the result of it)
Traditional institutions and values have broken down (families are
different now, before everyone was a Christian family/2 kids. Now
its different, values are broken down and its less traditional
Criminal justice systems are too lenient
oWays to stop crime
Re-establish social order
Punishments more punitive
oFocus of corrections
Focus on victims + innocent citizens (to deter)
Liberal (ruled by positivist criminology)
oReasons for crime
Social injustices
oWays to stop crime
More social programs
oFocus of corrections
Attention on criminal, help them to prevent future crimes
Radical (ruled on the ideas of Karl Marx)
oReasons for crime
Crime is because of capitalist exploitation
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
oWays to stop crime
Abolish capitalist system and establish a new social order
oFocus of corrections
Look at the big picture, society as a whole (Marx adopted the
macro theory, he though it was the system that was the problem)
PRE-CURSORS TO PRISON
Prisons are a form of punishment.
They are relatively new in our society.
Jails have been around for a long time but were used for temporarily confinement.
These are different types of tools we used when we didn’t have prison
1. Dungeons
-Used for awaiting trial/execution
-Usually a stone cell
2. Clerical penance
-Where clergy would go for solitary penance (to find
solitude/reflect/connect with God)
-Used for religious people
-One of the first models of prisons
3. Workhouses/Bridewells:
-In 1601, England has a sign responsible for the perishes
-They would employ the poor convicted of petty offences
-The poor were sent to these workhouses to work.
-The idea was that we needed to suppress idleness and teach people to
have a work ethic.
-Overtime this became the preferred response to anyone who was
deemed a problem (no longer just poor's, ex: prostitutes, beggars.).
-Harsh and degrading environment that wanted to discourage people
from crimes knowing they could be sent to one of these Bridewells
-Scare them from committing crime
-They make a small amount of money
4. Debtors prisons:
-For people who couldn’t pay their taxes/rent
-Focus on people who had financial wounds
-Their entire family would also have to go
-Different types of work (ex: making potato sacks)
Mass produce items
They would have to work off their debts (they make no money)
5. County gaols/jails:
-Were not used to punish people, only to hold them while they were
awaiting trial/executing as prisons don’t exist at this time
-Beccaria went into these jails and said that they needed to be reformed
-For people awaiting execution/trial they were not sent there as a form
of punishment (didn’t exist yet)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
-Beccaria said there was no classification system
Everyone in the same room, ex: men/women, severe/light criminals,
old/young
-Inmate had to pay for all their accommodations, even if found
innocent. They couldn’t leave the jail until they paid it off
-Jailors would charge prisoners for things such as getting their
handcuffs taken off (very exploited and corrupt)
-Many people were poor and were stuck there for a very long time
-Physical and moral breeding grounds
CONTEXT IN WHICH PRISONS EMERGE
How were offenders punished prior to prisons? What were some ‘issues’ with these
methods of punishment?
Transportation
Hulks
Corporal punishment
oFlogging, stocks and pillory
oStarted being seen as inhumane
Capital punishment
oBloody Code
oDeath
People started to think this was all too extreme.
Capital punishment wasn’t a good deterrent.
Fines were used but were unfair
oTended to target the poor more than the ones of higher social classes
THE EMERGENCE OF PRISONS (S.C.I.T.J)
Shift from the punishment of the body to the mind
oDeprivation of liberty
Idea that fines hurt the poor more than the rich, but taking away a
person’s freedom in theory should cause discomfort to all
The Age of Enlightenment
oStart to see emergence of philosophical ideas based in idealism/reason,
intellectual revolution.
oPeople are seen as having free will/rationality and make their own
decisions.
oIdea that people are rational lead to the idea of prison, with the idea of
control; people can be trained.
Classical theory
oIdea of social contract
oNeeds to be punishment that is certain/swift/proportionate to deter people
from committing crime, find another way to punish people (not death)
Industrial Revolution (Marx’s)
oWe need new ways to punish people
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
What causes crime: who we associate with (peer pressure), mental disorders, addiction, environment. How can we control crime: helping people through social programs, proactive through community policing, recreational programs/afterschool activities (targeting children before they go down that path), trying to educate people. What should be the function of prisons: rehabilitation, re-integration, to punish, separate the dangerous offenders from society to protect it, rates of recidivism to reduce. Conservative (ruled by classical criminology: reasons for crime. Social injustices (racism; society doesn"t meet their needs and crime is the result of it) Traditional institutions and values have broken down (families are different now, before everyone was a christian family/2 kids. Now its different, values are broken down and its less traditional. Criminal justice systems are too lenient: ways to stop crime. Punishments more punitive: focus of corrections. Focus on victims + innocent citizens (to deter) Liberal (ruled by positivist criminology: reasons for crime. Social injustices: ways to stop crime.
