Punishment to individuals who have wronged the society is something that has been practised by many communities from ancient times. Different forms of punishment were practised depending on the culture, belief and the intensity of the crime that has been committed (Merino, 2009). This included revenge by the offended to the offender by inflicting the same amount of pain whether physical or emotional, or the being chased to suffer alone in the wild away from family and society as a whole. Isolation by use of cages and restricted and controlled motion and activities were also practised which is a system of punishment that has evolved over to become better and more efficient in punishing the law breakers.
The Walnut Street Jail was the first America’s real prison which was built in Philadelphia and ran Quakers between 1790 and 1825 (Clark & others, 2006). Quakers had the idea that a prison should be a place where law breakers or people who have offended the society should make amends and take responsibility of whatever they did. Prisoners were put in isolation that was believed to provide an opportunity for them to think about their mistakes. High walls were set up which allowed prisoners to engage in physical activities and socialising which helped them in the process of reform. Later on in 1826, Western Penitentiary was opened followed by Eastern Penitentiary three years later.After the first era, Mass Prison era followed between 1825 and 1878 (Merino, 2009).The cause of these was the increasing population in the correctional facility which made solitary confinement expensive. Due to this New York State Prison was constructed in Auburn whose goal was to reduce cost by allowing prisoners to congregate but with a condition of being or else severe punishment would be upon them. Experiment carried out showed that denying them the chance to engage in physical activities led to death, depression and others even attempted suicide.
During the 1860 is when America started looking at imprisonment seriously analysing the benefits and disadvantages that came with the use of different facilities in imposing punishment to the law breakers ( Merino, 2009). The available systems that were put in place were the auburn system and Pennsylvania system. The major distinction between the two systems was the type of isolation imposed to the prisoners. Irish system was also put into consideration that comprised sections of punishment depending on the conduct of the prisoner. Several reasons have propelled the changes in the privatization over time. Population increase that in turn has led to the desire to expand the carrying capacity of these buildings as a proportional increase of criminal offences has been noticed. Technological advancement has led to improved system of monitoring and communication in prisons hence reducing manpower required in delivering the services. Political and social changes that have also occurred resulting into some changes. Laws have been formulated determining the type of punishment and duration associated with a particular type of crime committed.
A philosopher by the name Jeremy Bentham came up with what is known as the Panopticon, which comprises of structure that allowed monitoring of the cell blocks by a single unit( Merino, 2009). It involved a circular structure with one monitoring unit at the centre allowing the officers to watch the inmates located at the perimeter all round. It was not applied during Jeremy Bentham’s time but was discovered to be essential in the management of mental care institutions, schools and military camps. The prison system has undergone a lot of changes and architects have been encouraged to come up with creative ideas of security structures that make it possible for the police to manage the inmates in a particular prison. Watching towers have been set up from this idea that are used to monitor the free space that prisoners are allowed to access during the daytime and detect any escape at night. The ability to monitor a whole facility by a single watch also inspired the invention of closed circuit television. Moreover, cameras are installed at distinct points in the structure to control the movements of the inmates with microphones and speakers incorporated to convey audio message instead of physically moving from one place to another which saves time and improves efficiency.
In our society today, a lot of political changes is taking place that in turn has great on the correctional facility. The nomination of political representatives by the public has led to a commitment by these individuals to debate on different issues to the benefits of the public. Laws are created stating the rules governing imparting of punishment to the law breakers in the correctional facilities. Offenders are given a chance to have lawyers who argue in courts on their benefits and favour trying to justify their act or rather reduce intensity of punishment. What is a punishable crime in one community may not be in another community thus differentiating behaviour among communities. Movements and debates have been created to decriminalise some of the activities or use of a certain type of products such as marijuana.
Correctional facilities main aim was to discipline the people who offend the community and several procedures are applied to achieve this goal. Effectiveness has been noticed as the society moral values; law and order is observed by many if not all due to the fear of sentence to jail. On the other hand, it has failed due to controversies on the prominent people and the judicial system as some innocent people are sent to prison just because of personal vendetta among them. Corruption also takes place at the facilities where at small payments some inmates are given favours like better meals and living condition while others who are uncooperative with the authorities are beaten, and occasionally killed.
Private investors have intervened and seen an opportunity in a profit making business. It involves the ownership of a prison facility by private people who enter into an agreement with the government on a regular fee for each prisoner on a regular basis. The idea has been embraced well in some communities and badly in others after consideration of different factors (Clark & others, 2006). Private prisons are good in correcting minimum and medium incarcerated individuals as it is effective in delivery of its services and minimum brutality to prisoners and will also economise the government expense. Maximum and super-max prisoners should be included in government facilities as this is a long term thing with no much humane and strict conditions to be considered as they will not be associated with the society to cause any harm. Murderers and rapists are examples of those to be put in a government facility. Looking at the killing of an elderly person that took place in 1957 of a doctor who injected an elderly person with poison that led to death (Salem Press, 1999). This was a brutal act and such person had to be put away from the community for so long if not a lifetime.
Growing population in the world leading to varying socio-economic activities leads to several offences that deserve punishment of different intensities. Social activities variation in the different communities can also cause varying types of correctional facilities as an offence in one community may not be a crime in another or intensity of punishment of the same crime differing. People whose relatives are sentenced to imprisonment may have effect on the rate of visitation or even conjugal rights of the married. Religious rights can also be pertinent as individuals of different religious beliefs are always in the same facility. Looking at California Correctional Centre, inmates are equipped with knowledge in different aspects of life such as carpentry and basic education that will help them after release and be of importance to the society.
In conclusion, to interact peacefully in a society, law and order should be maintained according to the laid constitution or agreement between members of a certain society. To ensure respect and humble co-existence, correctional facility to isolate those that interfere with the well being of others is vital. Not only should this facilities be about punishment but also educative to make minimum servers in prison productive when they get out.
References
California., & Bancroft-Whitney Company. (1850). Reports of cases determined in the Supreme Court of the state of California. San Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney.
Clark, S., & MacCreaigh, E. (2006). Library services to the incarcerated: Applying the public library model in correctional facility libraries. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited.
Merino, N. (2009). Prison. Detroit [MI: Greenhaven Press.
Salem Press. (1999). U.S. court cases. Pasadena, Calif: Salem Press.
