The correctional system in the US refers to a network of agencies that help to administer a jurisdiction's prisons, probation boards, as well as community-based programs such as parole. In addition, the correctional system forms part of the greater criminal justice system, which also comprises of police, prosecution, and the courts. The correctional system usually has five main objectives, which include incapacitation, restoration, rehabilitation, retribution, and deterrence. The role of the correctional system in the USA is to monitor inmates in prisons as well as deal with offenders who are conditionally released from prisons. Also, the correctional system deals with individuals who are merely issued penalties that do not require imprisonment. The paper focuses on providing a discussion about the history of the correctional system in the USA.
The American government established the prison system in the year 1891. However, prisons were used by politicians and wealthy individuals to detain people who had fallen out of favour with them. Some of the people who found themselves in prisons include prisoners of war, common criminals, debtors, slaves, as well as individuals who were convicted of treason ( Bourne, 2017) . Prisons during the 17th and 16th centuries were more of remands where people convicted of crimes would be jailed for a short period of time as they await their punishments.
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The US correctional system has evolved through various stages, beginning with the penitentiary era where Pennsylvanian Quakers became the first people to convert the Walnut street jail to a Penitentiary. During the penitentiary era, the main objective of the corrections system was to rehabilitate and deter criminals from engaging in criminal behaviour. In addition, the penitentiary era lasted between the years 1790 to 1825, and prisoners would be confined in solitude in tiny single cells. The Mass prison era began in 1825 to 1876 and was characterized by a more humanitarian approach, therefore eradicating the solitary confinement method. In addition, the Auburn system was introduced where prisoners would be allowed to work as a team during the day and then confined at night. The reformatory era began at the onset of the 19th century between the years 1876 and 1890. During the era, the juvenile correctional system was introduced ( Bourne, 2017) . Furthermore, during the period, the main aims of the correctional system were to educate, change the behaviours as well as train inmates on various skills to help them perform various works.
The industrial and punitive eras then followed, where prisons became self-sustaining and sufficient. Treatment and community-based eras then followed where it was argued that prisoners would not change their behaviours without the involvement of society. For instance, the prisoners would be temporarily released from the prisons back to their communities in order for them to meet their job responsibilities. The warehousing era began in the 1870s and 1880s due to increased instances of recidivism—the era aimed at ensuring that rehabilitation became effective and that prisoners rectified their behaviours. From the year 1995 to date, the American correctional system has been on the just desert era where stakeholders within the government believe in the philosophy that sentencing is essential as a punishment for undesired behaviour.
Contributions of Philosophers in the American Correctional System
Various philosophers such as Cesare Beccaria, Lombroso, Jeremy Bantam, and John Howard contributed immensely to the American corrections system. Cesare Beccaria is popular for his treatise on crimes and punishments in the year 1764. The treatise was instrumental in condemning torture and death sentences. In addition, Beccaria works form the basis in the field of penology as well as the classical school in criminology. Moreover, he is considered the father of criminal justice and criminal law. Jeremy Bentham contributed to the correctional system by developing the philosophy that individuals who engage in actions that are detrimental to society should be punished through imprisonment. John Howard developed the system of state-controlled prisons. Moreover, he advocated for the solitary confinement regime, religious instruction, and hard labour.
Early Forms of Incapacitation
The early forms of incapacitation included the imposition of sentences upon individuals who exhibited no concern for other people. In addition, early incapacitation involved subjecting offenders to interventions as well as mandating lengthy imprisonment to individuals convicted of third offenses. Inmates would be confined in small cells, and the correctional system did not focus much on changing the behaviours of criminals ( Mital et al., 2020) . In addition, women and children were treated similarly to male inmates. For instance, they would be subjected to the same tiny cells and received equal amounts of punishment. However, after the introduction of the juvenile criminal system, children were treated differently from adult men and women.
Philosophies/Models of how Inmates should be treated
The main philosophies and models on how inmates should be treated include rehabilitation, deterrence, as well as incapacitation. The administrators of the correctional system should focus on rectifying the behaviours of the wrongdoers as well as prevent them from committing crimes once they are released from prisons and rehabilitation centres.
Prison/Jail Design
The various jail and prison designs include juvenile, psychiatric, military, as well as minimum, and high-security correctional centres. Juvenile is focused on rehabilitating minors who engage in wrongdoings. The high-security jails are usually reserved for the most dangerous and violent offenders within society.
Deterrence, Incapacitation, retribution, and Rehabilitation
Deterrence is a concept in the criminal justice system which involves the inhibition of criminal behaviours through fear, such as punishing wrongdoers. Incapacitation is a philosophy in criminal justice that involves capital punishment as well as sending criminals to prison ( Mital et al., 2020) . In addition, incapacitation involves restricting the freedom of wrongdoers within the community in order to protect society. Rehabilitation involves the restoring of behaviours of a wrongdoer. Retribution is a form of punishment which outlines that the severity of punishment should be in conformity with the crime committed.
Society should punish individuals who commit a crime in order to rehabilitate their behaviours as well as prevent the large community from harm. In addition, society should punish wrongdoers in rehabilitate their behaviours and prevent high rates of recidivism.
References
Bourne, K. (2017). Incarceration in America: Where the Correctional System Fails in Maintaining Sustainable Communities and How It Can Be More Effective. Mital, S., Wolff, J., & Carroll, J. J. (2020). The relationship between incarceration history and overdose in North America: A scoping review of the evidence. Drug and Alcohol Dependence , 108088.
