CRM 1301 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Auburn Correctional Facility, Solitary Confinement, Prison Reform

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Criminology
• Course: CRM 1301
• Professor: Christine Gervais

Document Summary

Freedom and prisons in the land of the free. Conditions prior to revolution restricted number of indiv serving prison terms. Lesser crimes punished by physical means (whipping, branding, mutilation) Those who couldn"t pay their crceditor in antebellum america found themselves in jail until obligation was satisfied. When imprisoned man was deprived of opportunity to earn money for repayment: survival depended on aid of others. Longer debptor was in prison, the longer the debt: granted jail liberty permitted them to seek work within towns limits, this disappeared taking away last hopes to repay prisoners obligation. Common to find prominent people imprisoned for debt. Local jails used as depository for mentally ill, aged, those who were vagrants: many men and women incarcerated put together in unhealthy, crowded, and communal cells, accessible to general public to prove salvation of these unfortunate inmates. Reform of prisons caught eye of american reformers.