Characteristics of imprisonment in the nineteenth century - Essay Example

Question (a). Characteristics of imprisonment in the nineteenth century Introduction Different penal regimes attracted different supporters, as at different times. The ‘silent system’ vied with the ‘separate system’ while the moral reformers vied with deterrence enthusiasts. A prison system consists of one of the sanctions that are implemented in dealing with criminal offenses in the society. In the 16th century, criminal activities attracted public events that were intended at shaming the criminal through whipping and sometimes handing. During the 17th century, prison was any place that the offenders were held while awaiting the punishment. During the 17th century, London Bridewell house was constructed as a prototype prison that could hold the disorderly poor in order to instill the habits of work through prison labour (Emsley 15). The 19th century witnessed the implementation of the first state prison that was the national penitentiary at Millbank in London. The prisoners were kept in separate cells, but were allowed to associate during the day. Pentoville prions was constructed in 1842 with cells measuring 13 feet long, 9 feet high and 7 feet in width and operated a separate system that entailed solitary confinement of the prisoners. Peel’s Gaol Act of 1823 had separated the prisons depending on the status of the offender. The prisoners were confined in a separate cell and were tied with rope and communication to other prisoners was impossible. Select Committee of the House of Lords recommended for the appointment of Prison Inspectorate and implementation of silent prison system (Emsley 67). The first stage of silent system was solitary confinement for a period of up to nine months that was coupled with hard labour and prayers in the cells. The second penal stage was the provision of sleep and meals in a separate cell, but the prisoner would be allowed to work with the rest of prisoners. The third stage was consisted the conditional release on account of good conduct and constant police supervision. Under the silent system, food was monotonous, beds were replaced with hammocks in order to cause the offender sleepless nights and hard labour entailed Oakum picking in order to separate the fibres of an old ship’s ropes for reuse. These systems entailed a lot of brutal punishment methods such as electric shocks, starvation and plugging of prisoners in boiling water. However, many boroughs decided to give up their prisons instead of incurring higher expenses of maintaining the prisoners (Emsley 89). In 1877, the prisons were nationalized and came under the control of Prison Commission. The Prison Commission was of the view that restructuring was essential in order to reduce the number of prisons and stop reoffending. The Prison Commission asserted its won control of prisons and standardised the regulations of all prisons thus leading to uniformity. Conclusion I agree with Sidney and Beatrice that the nineteenth century prison policy was ultimately ‘the fetish of uniformity’. After the passage of Prison Act of 1865, the Prison Commission implemented measures of standardizing services offered to prisoners including the quality of food, the number of labour hours and ensured that prisoners wore uniforms while in the cells. In addition, the prisons employed new qualified personnel such as psychologists, caseworkers and welfare officers who were tasked with providing counseling services and providing treatment to the prisoners. By mid 1890s, the Prison Commission had successfully implemented uniformity, efficiency in administration and welfare services in prisons. The 1898 Prison Act gave the Secretary of State to make rules governing prisons and a Board of Independent Visitors for every convict prison was established (Emsley 113). Question (b). ‘When we look back, transportation captures our contemporary attention as a sensible, colourful and almost exciting way of dealing with serious offenders. But with the benefit of hindsight, we can appreciate that it was doomed as a passing phase of penal history, a product of its time. Yet we can also view transportation as a penal laboratory, providing and testing ideas for the ‘modern’ period of the history of punishment. Explain and discuss transportation as a means of dealing with criminal offenders. Introduction Transportation was used in the 18th century as a penal practice since it was viewed as a necessary method of reforming the criminal offenders. The main reasons of transportation were to remove the offender from the society and also attain deterrence effect. In some cases, it was done at the expense of the ship owners and merchants who wanted to use the offenders for forced labour in other territories. It was viewed as an alternative and lenient punishment to the death penalty in the serious crimes. The Transportation Act of 1718 allowed the courts to order to guilt felons subject to the benefit of Clergy to serve seven years of transportation to America. In addition, the state paid authorised merchants the costs of transportation to America and made the return from transportation a capital offense that attracted death penalty. After the outbreak of war with America in 1776, transportation was halted and male convicts were committed to hard labour while female convicts were imprisoned. This penal practice resumed in 1787 and the new transportation destination was Australia which was viewed as a distant land (Emsley 56). At the beginning of 19th century, the maximum punishment for various offenses was substituted with transportation for life. However, anti-transportation movements started in Sydney in the 1830s. New liberal and humanitarian ideology had gained a footing in British politics and demanded the end of transportation. The British penal code was made lenient and only the serial and hardened criminals were subjected to transportation. For instance, serious crimes committed by the escaping convicts such as Robert Wardell who murdered a business partner on the Cooks River in 1843 caused public dissent on transportation as a means of punishing serious offenders. Transportation was now viewed as unreliable and dangerous method of reducing crime in the society. The transportation of political prisoners and Swing Rioters to Sydney also attracted a lot of criticism from the urban and immigrant middle class. In 1837, Molesworth Committee recommended for the immediate abolishment of transportation, establishment of gaols far from free settlement and orderly release of convicts so that they could return home to enjoy their freedoms after serving the full prison term. An Order in Council was made in 1840 and effectively prohibited transportation to Australia. Later attempts to reintroduce transportation to the east coast Australia were pioneered by the wealthy merchants, but attracted criticism as this would increase the price of labour in British economy. Transportation was conclusively abolished in 1857 after the enactment of the Penal Servitude Act of 1857 that provided penal servitude for all the crimes and existing transportation sentences (Emsley 40). Conclusion Although transportation was initially viewed as an exciting way of punishing crimes, it was not effective in deterring repeat offenses. Transportation was viewed as a lenient punishment to the death penalty especially for the dangerous convicts. Transportation provided a laboratory for the modern penal code since it provided to be cruel and inhumane. Transportation introduced more liberal and modern methods of deterring crime such as imprisonment and counseling. Works cited: Emsley, Clive. Crime and Society in England 1750-1900. 3rd ed. Pearson Education Ltd. 2005. Read More