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| | == Initial Questions== |
| | #In how far the prison is a product of the process of civilization? (Find out about Pieter Spierenburg's research) |
| | #Is it true that the history of prisons is a success story? In how far? In how far not? |
| | #Why is it that for many countries, it is nearly impossible to meet the needs for decent prisons. What does it mean when, as a consequence, the experience of imprisonment is shaped by shortages? |
| | #There is a general complaint that jails and prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, and unfocused these days. But hasn't that always been somewhat true? What does it mean if, as a case in point, almost immediately after the first American prisons were built, the Walnut Street Jail (1790), the Auburn Prison (1819), the Western Pennsylvania Prison (1826), and the Eastern Pennsylvania Prison (1829) were full, and within a few years, they were expanded or new prisons were under construction? (To say that crowding and corrections have always been linked, of course, is not to dismiss the negative effects of overfilling institutions or to argue that it might not be worse than ever now.) |
| | #Is it true that the prison system is suffering from some basic philosophical contradictions that make it virtually impossible for it to achieve its aims (abject failure). |
| | #Does the prison's inability to function properly suggest that there are non-official functions (Merton) that keep an otherwise failed system alive - and if so, what are those latent functions? |
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| == Prison Research == | | == Prison Research == |
| === Protagonists === | | === Protagonists === |
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| *[[Eastern State Penitentiary]] | | *[[Eastern State Penitentiary]] |
| *[[Walnut Street]] | | *[[Walnut Street]] |
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| == Materials ==
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| What do we see when we look at the prison system in the world as it developed over time? A gradual humanization and improvement? Eternal recurrence of the same? A moral, social, and/or organizational success story or an abject failure in their own terms?
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| Maybe we see something of all of this in different parts and from different perspectives.
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| For one thing, there is the organizational success of the prison itself. The first modern prison was a modest structure in the yard of the Walnut Street Jail, housing 16 prisoners in 1796. Today, prison buildings have spread all over the world and the number of prisoners worldwide has gone beyond the 10 million mark. The U.S.’ combined incarceration rate for jails and prisons has climbed steeply and ranks exceedingly high today, but other countries' rates are climbing to similarly astronomical heights. Never before have there been so many people imprisoned as today (2018).
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| There is something unique about the situation. As the drug war rages and stiffer sentencing has its effect, incarceration rates spiral past any semblance of control. As a consequence, though spending has steadily, and steeply, climbed over the last several years in many countries, it is nearly impossible for most states to meet the needs for decent prisons. So they do not. As a consequence, the experience of imprisonment is shaped by shortages.
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| Shortages, on the other hand, have always characterized the prison system. While it has become axiomatic to say that jails and prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, and unfocused these days, this has always been somewhat true. Cases in point, almost immediately after the first American prisons were built, the Walnut Street Jail (1790), the Auburn Prison (1819), the Western Pennsylvania Prison (1826), and the Eastern Pennsylvania Prison (1829) were full, and within a few years, they were expanded or new prisons were under construction.To say that crowding and corrections have always been linked, of course, is not to dismiss the negative effects of overfilling institutions or to argue that it might not be worse than ever now.
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| Then there is the eternal topic of the prison system suffering from some basic philosophical contradictions that make it virtually impossible for it to achieve its aims (abject failure). On the other hand, this inability to function properly suggests that there might be latent functions (Merton) that are being fulfilled quite well by the prison, and that keep the system alive.
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