Throughout human history, suspected criminals were detained, awaiting trial and punishment. In the early civilizations, suspected criminals were subjected to harsh prison conditions, such as torture and execution. Some suspects were publicly humiliated to learn from their mistakes. Death sentences were prevalent since the local and state governments believed that they served as useful examples to the public. The jails’ history relates to the strategies that the government used to punish and house prisoners and the reforms made to enhance rehabilitation.
The early civilization gave rise to jails. Humans created confinement facilities to host criminals before they could be sentenced. Originally, prisons were temporary holding areas, but they eventually evolved into correctional centers to implement rehabilitation and reform of inmates. The first record of jails was recorded around 1000 BC in the ancient civilizations Mesopotamia and Egypt (Reid, 2018). During this era, the government constructed underground dungeons where the suspected criminals spent their life awaiting to become slaves or death sentence, depending on the crime. Judgment was based on confessions, witnesses’ testimonies, and ritualistic procedure (Reid, 2018). This period marked the beginning of the criminal justice system.
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Greece and the ancient Roman Empire had different jail settings. The government constructed isolated buildings and allowed family members to visit the inmates. Unlike in Mesopotamia and Egypt, the prisoners in Greece had wooden blocks tied on their feet (Godfrey, 2019). The ancient Roman Empire had stringent regulations against prisoners. The inmates lived in enclosed underground cells (Godfrey, 2019). Besides, the prisoners were chained to the walls. During the early civilizations, slavery was legal, and thus, most prisoners were sold as slaves or forced to provide free labor for the government. In the ancient Roman Empire, the prisoners who could fight well became gladiators (Godfrey, 2019). As a result, the Empire had a powerful slave army. In early civilizations, jails had inhumane conditions.
In the US, the correctional system started when the country was under the British Empire. The punishments were severe. For example, in 1736, the Massachusetts Assembly ordered thieves to be fined or flogged (Mitevski, 2019). In case a person repeated the offense, the punishment intensity increases. The second offense resulted in hefty fines, sitting under gallows for an hour with a rope tied on the neck, and being whipped thirty times (Mitevski, 2019). These punishments were meant to scare people from committing crimes. In case a person committed a crime for the third time, the judge would give a life sentence. During this time, the local prisons held the suspected criminals. In the post-independence period, the US government constructed prisons and eliminated death sentences for minor offenses such as burglary (Mitevski, 2019). Americans believed that reducing the severity of punishment would force inmates to reflect on their acts. In the nineteenth century, jails and prisons served as means to restore social order and stability.
However, the Pennsylvania prison system had strict measures. The Pennsylvania system implemented in the early 1830s enforced solitary confinement and forced prisoners to wear black hats to avoid interacting with their counterparts (Mitevski, 2019). The prisoners were denied communication with their family members. As a result, most inmates reported adverse physical and mental health outcomes, leading to increased suicide rates (Mitevski, 2019). Reforms to reduce isolation were introduced. However, the correctional officers maintained order using corporal punishment strategies, such as tying chains around inmates’ necks, pouring cold water on prisoners, and binding inmates on rotating chairs (Mitevski, 2019). The nineteenth-century prison facilities entailed hard labor, isolation, and a ban on speaking.
The modern jail system can be traced back to ancient Europe. Before the nineteenth century, Great Britain’s local governments used old military forts, castles, and dungeons to house offenders (Costanza, 2017). Later, the Britain government constructed improved prison facilities. In the nineteenth century, the British government created the Penal Servitude Act, which allowed the suspected criminals to be jailed in Britain or Australia (Godfrey, 2019). During this era, the alleged criminals could not tell where they could serve their sentence. For instance, in 1985, Thomas Osborne and George Grant were convicted of burglary, and even though they both robbed the same shop, they served their sentences in different locations (Godfrey, 2019). Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher and prison reformer, suggested significant changes to the jail concept. Bentham was against the death penalty and wrote a letter to the British government that had plans to construct prison facilities (Godfrey, 2019). Bentham believed that the British penal system was expensive and ineffective. He stated that the prisoners’ transportation did not positively impact the public, the penal system did not enhance reformation, and there was no compensation for the victims (Godfrey, 2019). Bentham’s design included hosting prisoners in facilities where they could not tell whether the guards watched them. Although the British government did not implement Bentham’s plan, other countries applied his model to save money and use jails and prisons to punish offenders.
In the twentieth century, governments introduced prison reforms to reduce the inmate population, recidivism, and adverse health outcomes. Jails were used to house people who had minor crimes (Mitevski, 2019). Besides, inmates demanded civil rights. As a result, the federal government revised the sentences, trained the prison staff, introduced mental examinations, improved living conditions, and reduced solitary confinements (Mitevski, 2019). Today, inmates have access to their families. Death penalties are confined to severe crimes such as first-degree murder.
Overall, the history of jails can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. These regions had implemented strict measures to punish suspected criminals. During this period, crime was considered a violation of human rights. For this reason, the offenders were denied human rights, such as proper housing, freedom of communication, and the right to assemble. Eventually, the US and UK implemented prison reforms to enable prisoners to rectify their behaviors. Today, prisoners have access to recreational facilities and communication with friends and families.
References
Costanza, S. E. (2017). Prison construction. The Encyclopedia of Corrections , 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118845387.wbeoc125
Godfrey, B. (2019). Prison versus Western Australia: Which worked best, the Australian penal colony or the English convict prison system? The British Journal of Criminology , 59 (5), 1139-1160. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azz012
Mitevski, A. (2019). Historical development of the prison system in the USA. Student’s Social Science Journal , 1 (7), 103-111.
Reid, J. N. (2018). The birth of the prison: The functions of imprisonment in early Mesopotamia. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History , 3 (2), 81-115. https://doi.org/10.1515/janeh-2017-0008
