The Pennsylvania and Auburn Systems of Imprisonment

The Pennsylvania and Auburn Systems of Imprisonment

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Pennsylvania and Auburn Systems of imprisonment

List the primary features of the Pennsylvania and Auburn systems of imprisonment

The Pennsylvania system of imprisonment is founded on the principle that solitary confinement stimulates self-reproach and encourages change in a criminal (Waid‐Lindberg, 2017) it therefore encourages separation of a wrongdoer from the community. It was modified to involve some type of work like furniture making or weaving.

The Auburn imprisonment system was an alternative of the Pennsylvania system. Its primary features included prisoners working during the day while kept in solitary containment at night (Rubin, 2020). It emphasized silence at all times and included acts that encouraged silence such as the lockstep, the strip suit and special seating styles.

What are the pros and cons of these system models?

The pros of the Pennsylvania system were that prisoners could not mingle with others in a bid to conspire to escape. Isolation encouraged self reproach of a criminal because one was able to reflect on his actions. The cons were that it was too costly because with the influx of prisoners it was impossible to construct an individual cell for thousands of prisoners. Moreover, critics have argued that it has deleterious effects on the prisoner’s minds. (Waid‐Lindberg, 2017).

The pros of the Auburn system are that it encouraged some social contact among prisoners during the daywhich was better for their mental health compared to solitary confinement at all times. It also encouraged discipline by using physical punishment which kept the tough criminals in check. Its cons stemmed from the fact that it used prisoners’ labour force for the benefit of the prisoners. This violated the most basic human rights. It also encouraged the used of extreme physical cruelty (Calkowska, 2018).

What features from the Pennsylvania and Auburn systems have carried forth into today’s prison systems?

The incarceration facilities have containment areas away from the community (Siegel, 2017). The aspect of containing an inmate has been borrowed from the Pennsylvania system. Today prison system has solitary confinements for violent and threatening inmates. This was borrowed from both the pen and auburn systems. Use of punishment in prisons (Siegel, 2017) comes from auburn system.

References

Rubin, A. T. (2020). The Deviant Prison: Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary and the Origins of America’s Modern Penal System, 1829–1913. Cambridge University Press.

Calkowska, K. (2018). American Penitentiary systems at the Beginning of the 19th Century through the Eyes of European Intellectuals. CRIMEN, 303.

Waid‐Lindberg, C. A. (2017). Imprisonment Binge and “Get Tough” Movement. The Encyclopedia of Corrections, 1-8.

Siegel, L. J. (2017). Corrections Today. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337514859/ accessed 1/6/2021.