The Philosophy and History of Corrections

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The Philosophy and History of Corrections © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & BartlettCHAPTER Learning, LLC CorrectionsTheNOT FOR Philosophy SALE OR DISTRIBUTION and Its NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Jones &Placeand Bartlett Learning, History in LLC the ofCriminal © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION JusticeCorrections System 122 © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION OBJECTIVES FEATURES © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC OOOO NOTUnderstand FOR criminalnatural SALE law sentencing ORand the DISTRIBUTION philosophical and the factors CorrectionsNOT Research:Focus: FOR Newgate The SALE Effect of ConnecticutOR of Tougher DISTRIBUTION thatreasons inform why it. societies develop criminal justice and Prison Conditions on Recidivism: Fact or Fantasy? correctional systems. Corrections Controversy: Holt v. Hobbs: OO Identify the presentence investigation (PSI) report OO CorrectionsA Unanimous Brief: Supreme Incarceration: Court Decision Is It Just Time andCompare its uses deterrence, by the criminal retribution, justice incapacitation, system. © Jones & Bartlettrehabilitation, Learning, and restoration LLC as punishment © JonesAway from& Bartlett Crime? Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALEOO Followphilosophies OR changing DISTRIBUTION and philosophies sentencing rationales. of sentencing, trends NOTCorrections FOR SALE History: OR DISTRIBUTIONPrinciples from the in sentencing, and the role of the United States OO Trace the history of corrections to ancient societies Corrections1870 National in the Congress News: Inmate on Penitentiary Mental Health and Sentencingand throughout Commission various religious in sentencing traditions. policy. Reformatory Discipline OOOO LearnFollow the the functions development of specialized/problem-solving of corrections in colonial courts,America. such as drug© courts, Jones DWI & courts, Bartlett family Learning, LLCCorrections Research: Prison© PolicyJones as &an Bartlett Agent Learning, LLC OO courts,Understand mental the health penitentiaryNOT courts, FOR andand reformatorycommunitySALE OR DISTRIBUTIONof Social Change NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION courts.movements and their relationship to social conditions and crime rates. OO Recognize the factors that are used to classify OO inmateRecognize populations. key figures in correctional history, such as ©John Jones Howard, & Alexander Bartlett Maconochie, Learning, Walter LLC Crofton, © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC OO NOTAssessZebulon FOR the Brockway, risk SALE factors John that ORAugustus, contribute DISTRIBUTION and others.to inmate NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION misconduct and violence. OO Identify the eras of correctional and prison history in the 20th and 21st centuries. OO Understand the current state of correctional © Jones & Bartlettphilosophy Learning, and practice. LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR“Specialty DISTRIBUTION courts are an innovative and NOTtherapeutic FOR waySALE to handle OR DISTRIBUTION people who do not fit into The respect for the law is thethe obverse traditional side and inflexibleof our hatred forcriminal the criminal justice transgressor.model.”1, p. 348 (Mead, 1918, pp. 585–586) © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 9781284153071_CH02_DeLis.indd 33 13/12/17 1:16 pm Natural law is authoritative or binding over © Jones & BartlettPenitentiaries Learning, were little LLC more than holding bins for the© Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC human conduct, and the good of the order (referred NOT FOR SALEdregs OR of society. DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION to generally as “the good”) takes primacy over indi- (Meskell, 1999, p. 862) vidual rights and concerns. In short, natural law is obvious and unequivocal that certain behaviors are wrong and intolerable and therefore must be pun- © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLCished. Evidence for natural© law Jones can be & found Bartlett in the Learning, LLC The PhilosophyNOT of FOR Corrections SALE OR DISTRIBUTIONuniversal human revulsionNOT against FOR specific SALE negative OR DISTRIBUTION behaviors or crimes. You would be hard pressed to Throughout history, people and cultures have varied find a society or group of people that did not morally greatly in their beliefs about what is an appropriate response to violations of law. Of course, responding to condemn behaviors such as murder, incest, or even violations© Jones of the& Bartlett law depends Learning, on what law LLC is violated theft. These© Jones behaviors & appearBartlett to be Learning, intrinsically LLC (presumablyNOT FOR murder SALE and OR shoplifting DISTRIBUTION will elicit different wrong, orNOT mala FORin se. BecauseSALE ofOR their DISTRIBUTION severity, mala responses) and the circumstances surrounding the in se offenses have historically been punished in the offense, such as the age of the offender, whether the most severe way—by a sentence of death. As human person acted purposely or negligently, and whether the organizations became more complex and societies © Jones & Bartlettperson acted Learning, aggressively LLC or in self-defense; however,© Jonesbecame & Bartlett more modern, Learning, the mode LLC of punishment NOT FOR SALEdifferent OR value DISTRIBUTION systems result in different responses toNOT FORevolved SALE (DeLisi, OR 2011). DISTRIBUTIONThe range of behaviors that crime. Some people and cultures are bleeding hearts were defined as crimes broadened and included and lenient; others are cold-hearted and harsh. Some many acts that were deemed illegal. Mala prohibita are seemingly unable and unwilling to punish; others offenses are crimes made illegal by legislation, not by punish with zeal. Throughout this chapter, you will rec- natural law, and are punished in a variety of ways, ognize that the history© Jones of corrections & Bartlett reflects Learning, ongoing LLCsuch as fines or detention.© Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC changes in beliefs NOTand practices FOR SALEabout the OR best DISTRIBUTION way to Along with evolving modesNOT FORof punishment, SALE OR dif- DISTRIBUTION punish criminal offenders. ferent punishment philosophies have also ebbed and If corrections, or punishment, has vacillated flowed throughout history and to the present. For between these poles of harshness and leniency, a more instance, consider the following quotation: basic© Jones question & isBartlett what do societiesLearning, do to LLCpunish crimi- © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC nal offenders in the first place? Why do we punish? NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION We concludeNOT that FOR the present SALE prison OR system DISTRIBUTION is antiquated and When do societies develop correctional systems to inefficient. It does not reform the criminal. It fails to protect respond to law violators? A good place to start is natu- society. There is reason to believe that it contributes to the ral law. Natural law is the belief that the human world increase of crime by hardening the prisoner. We are con- is organized by a positive or good natural order that vinced that a new type of penal institution must be developed, © Jones & Bartlettshould be Learning, obeyed by all LLC humans. First described by the© Jonesone & that Bartlett is new in spirit,Learning, in method, LLC and in objective. NOT FOR SALEGreek OR writer DISTRIBUTION Sophocles, natural law is most famouslyNOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION (Bates, 1932, p. 562) attributed to Aristotle and its revival in the 13th century by philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas. Unlike the codi- fied laws that we follow today, natural law is unwritten. While this seems like an editorial from a newspaper in the 21st century, it comes from an article by Instead, it is tacitly© understood Jones & and Bartlett appreciated Learning, by LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC human reason. As Aristotle indicated in Politics, “Just Sanford Bates, the first director of the federal Bureau NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION punishments and chastisements do indeed spring from of Prisons. Bates was echoing the conclusions of the a good principle, but they are good only because we Wickersham Commission, which convened in 1931 cannot do without them—it would be better that to assess the state of criminal justice in the United neither individuals nor states should need anything of States. Then, as now, there was dissatisfaction with the© Jonessort” (1998, & Bartlett p. 13). Learning, LLC correctional© Jones policies & and Bartlett the inability Learning, of the correc LLC- NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION tional systemNOT to FOR reduce SALE crime ORand reformDISTRIBUTION offenders. Of all the justifications of criminal punishment, the desire Because of this, different punishment philosophies to incapacitate is the least complicated, the least studied, have appeared in correctional history. The main and often the most important. punishment philosophies are deterrence, retribution, © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC(Zimring & Hawkins, 1995, p. ©v) Jonesincapacitation, & Bartlett rehabilitation, Learning, andLLC the newest one, NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FORrestoration. SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 34 CHAPTER 2 The Philosophy and History of Corrections © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR
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