Purpose and History

Purpose and History Paper

Whitney Cervantez

CJS 255

Purpose and History Thesis

Since Socrates days and before there has been consequence, in theist beliefs such as christianity there is scripture that speaks of cutting the hand of a thief. In America of year 2019 we as people do not cut the hands of thieves because we have grown. As society changes, it has shown throughout history that laws change as well. A.D times there was not technology and no one knew of cyber crime. However in the present that is an area of focus and there are departments broken down into units that work to combat the rising and reoccurring issues. I will elaborate on the history of punishment. Following I will touch on the history of prison development. Third I will compare the Pennsylvanian System and the Auburn System. Concluding I will include the impact and involvement of prison labor over time.

History of Punishment

The American Revolution is where we began our independence from Britiand and we celebrate each year with barb-b-que’s, fireworks as display of bombs blasting in the sky. It was brutal, forever remembered and everything after that has been America in progress. According to The Collonial Williamsburg Foundation “Every Virginia minister was required to read the "Articles, Lawes and Orders" to his congregation every Sunday, and, among other things, parishioners were reminded that failure to attend church twice each day was punishable in the first instance by the loss of a day's food. A second offense was punishable by a whipping and a third by six months of rowing in the colony's galleys. Which underlines the notion of the law as an arm of religious orthodoxy.” J. Cox (Para 4) As time went along punishments have changed for the better of society. Beheading’s, burning people alive, tying a person to the tree to gather lashes is not only psychologically stressful but hazardous. Science has helped us as a specious understand bacteria, the importance of sanitation.

History of Prison Development

According to Encyclopedia “The pretrial detention of accused criminals is an ancient practice. From the fifth century to the tenth century, persons accused of crimes in England were confined in jail through the end of trial unless they had property to pledge. If they pledged property, the court held it in order to ensure their appearance at trial, and they were released from jail. After the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, local sheriffs determined who deserved pretrial release. This practice continued until the thirteenth century, when widespread favoritism and abuse by the sheriffs led to the enactment of uniform procedures concerning pretrial release.” This was established in America, along with the philosophy of bail. Criminals, people who were considered unjust were isolated during public pillory, where they were bound by neck and wrists. Exhaustion would happen over time on the body, elements would take toll and if they were not made of wood metal pillories existed as well. While the country was working with jails it wasn’t until the late 1700’s America made it’s first prison in Philadelphia.

Comparison of the Pennsylvania System and the Auburn System

The Pennsylvania System was evolved in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Penal System was originated in 1682 and the mission was to replace mutilation and torture with hard labor. According to Pennsylvania Government Website “The constitution of 1776 directed the enactment of laws establishing houses of correction for “punishing by hard labor, those who shall be convicted of crimes not capital.” N.D (para 2) Difference with the Auburn System. When then Penal System failed the Auburn System was created and according to Cayuga Museum “A key factor in the Auburn System was complete silence, strictly enforced with the threat of the whip. Because communication is necessary to maintaining a sense of self, prison officials decided to break convicts of this self-hood by forbidding them to communicate in any way. Even the keepers, the men who supervised the convicts, did not speak to them. The keepers signaled directions by tapping their metal-tipped canes on the ground.” N.d (para 2)

Impact and Involvement of Prison Labor Over Time

Crime has continued to grow and as society changes, in America we live in a Utilitarianism country and everything is for the purpose and pursuit of the greater good. However even though that is our philosophy not everyone in America has that mindset. Cyber crime is growing and we do not know what crimes will evolve into. Technology, knowledge can be used for evil. I do believe we should have prisons to incarcerate the worst criminals but I also believe we should not use inmates for labor and gain profit from them, if they hold no benefit to our goals then we do not need them they are no good for theirselves and others; rehabilitation is not necessary.

References

U.S. History and Historical Documents(n.d). Retrieved from https://www.usa.gov/history

Encyclopedia(n.d). Retrieved from https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/law/law/incarceration

(n.d). Retrieved from https://www.cor.pa.gov/PCI/Pages/History.aspx