AT HARD LABOR - REDISCOVERING THE 19TH CENTURY PRISON

• NCJ Number: 16179
• Journal: ISSUES IN CRIMINOLOGY Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (SPRING 1974) Pages: 91-114
• Author(s): M B MILLER
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 24 pages
• Corporate Author: University of California, Berkeley
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

TRACES THE EVOLUTION OF PRISON LABOR, AND THE PRISON PRACTICES CENTERED AROUND IT, SUCH AS WORK AS PUNISHMENT.

Abstract

COMMENTS ARE MADE ON CONTEMPORARY CORRECTIONS, FOCUSING ON COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, PRISON LIFE, AND ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. THE AUTHOR THEN EXPLORES THE EVOLUTION OF THE PRISON STRUCTURE. COMMENTS ARE MADE ON PRISON LABOR AND THE LARGE PENITENTIARY, COMMENTING ON PRISONER EARNINGS AS WELL AS PRISON COSTS. THE AUTHOR THEN DISCUSSES CONTROL MECHANISMS, SUCH AS EXECUTIVE PARDON, GOOD TIME LAWS, PAROLE, AND THE INDETERMINATE SENTENCE AND THEIR EFFECT ON CONVICT LABOR. TABLES SHOWING THE PRISON POPULATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES FROM 1850-1890 AND FORMS OF STATE LEGISLATION FROM 1850-1915 ARE INCLUDED. OTHER TOPICS DISCUSSED INCLUDE BUREAUCRATIC DEMANDS OF PRISONS, PARDONS AND PAROLE, THE ANTI-PRISON MOVEMENT, THE STATE-USE SYSTEM AND THE INDETERMINATE SYSTEM.