A brief history of prisons. | Ashley Rubin | TEDxMississauga

Summary

The speaker reflects on the childhood impact of Polly Klass's murder and the subsequent 'three strikes' law, leading to a lifelong study of criminal punishment. They explore the historical emergence of prisons around 230 years ago and the initial controversy surrounding their use, cost, and effectiveness. The narrative delves into early prison experiments, like solitary confinement, which caused significant distress to inmates, and how these methods evolved. The speaker questions the normalization of incarceration and prompts a reevaluation of our reliance on prisons as a society, amidst ongoing discussions on penal reform.

Takeaways

• 😢 The speaker's childhood was deeply affected by the tragic story of Polly Klass, which led to a personal interest in criminal punishment and the development of the three-strikes law in California.
• 🙏 As a child, the speaker had a unique prayer habit, asking for bad people to go to prison, reflecting an early internalization of incarceration as a solution to crime.
• 📚 The speaker's academic journey led to the study of criminal punishment in college and a career as a professor researching the history of prisons.
• 🏛 Prisons are a relatively new concept in human history, emerging around 230 years ago during the time of the American and French Revolutions.
• 🚫 The traditional view of punishment involved public and painful methods, such as execution or physical mutilation, which were later seen as distasteful and inhumane.
• 🔒 The distinction between jails and prisons is crucial: jails were temporary holding places, while prisons were designed for long-term confinement and punishment of convicted criminals.
• 🤔 The introduction of prisons was controversial, with concerns about their cost, humanity, and effectiveness in reducing crime.
• 🛑 Early prison experiments, particularly with solitary confinement, led to significant mental and physical health issues among inmates, prompting a reevaluation of the approach.
• 🔄 Despite early failures, prisons persisted, with modifications such as the Auburn and Pennsylvania systems, which continued to use some form of solitary confinement.
• 🌐 The models developed in the early prisons were replicated across the United States, influencing the widespread adoption of incarceration as a standard punishment.
• 🔍 The speaker reflects on the societal acceptance of prisons and the lack of ongoing questioning about their necessity and impact, suggesting a need for reevaluation in the context of modern penal reform discussions.

Q & A

What was the impact of Polly Klass's murder on the speaker's childhood?

The speaker was deeply affected by Polly Klass's kidnapping and murder, which occurred near their home in California. This event led to a focus on crime and punishment, influencing their later studies and career in criminal punishment.

What was the 'three strikes law' and how did it come about?

The 'three strikes law' is a legislation that mandates a 25-year or life sentence for individuals who commit a new crime after having two or more prior serious or violent felony convictions. It was passed in California, primarily motivated by the public outcry following Polly Klass's murder, as people sought harsher punishments for repeat offenders.

How did the speaker's childhood prayers reflect their early views on crime and punishment?

As a child, the speaker prayed for the imprisonment of 'bad people,' indicating an early acceptance of incarceration as a just response to criminal behavior, despite the unusual nature of such prayers for a child.

What is the historical context of prisons as a form of punishment?

Prisons emerged as a form of punishment around 230 years ago, during the time of the American and French Revolutions. They were a new development, contrasting with earlier forms of punishment that were public and often involved physical pain or death.

What was the difference between jails and prisons in the past?

Jails were holding tanks for a mix of people, including debtors, vagrants, accused, and convicted criminals, and were not considered places of punishment. Prisons, on the other hand, were designed for the long-term confinement of convicted criminals as a form of punishment.

Why were public punishments considered ineffective or undesirable?

Public punishments, such as hangings or physical mutilations, were seen as ineffective because they did not deter crime, and some people found them distasteful due to their public and painful nature.

What were the initial concerns about the implementation of prisons?

There were concerns about the expense of prisons, the potential inhumanity of long-term confinement, and whether prisons would actually reduce crime. There was also uncertainty about how people would react to being confined for long periods.

What were the Auburn and Pennsylvania prison models, and how did they differ?

The Auburn model involved prisoners working together silently in large rooms during the day and solitary confinement at night. The Pennsylvania model, on the other hand, kept prisoners in solitary confinement for their entire sentence, with occasional visits from penal reformers and prison administrators.

Why did the speaker find the early failures of prisons significant?

The early failures of prisons, particularly the experiment with total solitary confinement, left a lasting impression and led to intense scrutiny. Despite the failures, the focus was on fixing the prison system rather than questioning the concept of imprisonment itself.

How has society's attitude towards prisons evolved over time?

Society has become accustomed to the use of prisons, even in the face of failures and ongoing issues such as high costs and negative impacts on prisoners' mental health. The initial fears and questions about the long-term effects of imprisonment have largely been set aside in favor of reforming the prison system.

Outlines

00:00

🕯️ The Impact of Crime on Childhood and the Birth of Prisons

This paragraph recounts the narrator's childhood experience with crime, sparked by the murder of Polly Klass, which led to a personal interest in criminal punishment. The story reflects on the societal shift towards longer prison sentences, exemplified by California's three-strikes law. The narrator's journey from praying for criminals to be imprisoned to studying prisons academically is highlighted. The paragraph also delves into the historical novelty of prisons, which emerged around 230 years ago, contrasting with the long-standing practice of other forms of punishment. The narrator ponders the normalization of incarceration and its historical development, challenging the common assumption that prisons have always been the standard punishment for crime.

05:03

🏛️ The Evolution from Public Punishments to the Concept of Prisons

The second paragraph discusses the historical context of punishment, shifting from public and painful executions to the idea of incarceration. It describes the distaste for public punishments and the growing concern over the inhumanity and ineffectiveness of such practices. The paragraph outlines the emergence of prisons as an alternative during the American Revolution, highlighting the controversy and the challenges of establishing them. It details the initial failures of prisons, such as the solitary confinement experiment at New York's first state prison, which led to severe mental and physical health issues among inmates. The narrative also touches on the economic and humanitarian concerns of early prisons, as well as the public's nervousness about their impact on crime rates.

10:04

🔒 The Persistence and Criticism of the Prison System

The final paragraph examines the persistence of the prison system despite its early failures and the ongoing debates about its effectiveness and humanity. It describes two models of prison operation: the Auburn system, where prisoners worked silently together during the day but were kept in solitary confinement at night, and the Pennsylvania system, which emphasized solitary confinement with occasional educational visits. The paragraph notes the scrutiny and criticism prisons received, particularly from figures like Charles Dickens, who was aghast at the conditions in Eastern State Penitentiary. Despite the criticism, the paragraph reflects on society's acceptance of prisons as a norm and the lack of questioning about the necessity of incarceration. It concludes by posing a question about the future of penal reform, suggesting that it might be time to consider alternatives to the prison system.

Keywords

💡Crime

Crime refers to an act that poses a threat to the welfare, safety, and property of individuals in society, and is defined by law as an offense punishable by the state. In the video, the speaker's childhood contemplation on crime is sparked by the kidnapping and murder of Polly Klass, which leads to a broader societal discussion on punishment and the implementation of 'three strikes' laws in California.

💡Three Strikes Law

The 'Three Strikes Law' is a legislative measure that mandates harsher sentences for repeat offenders, particularly those with two or more prior convictions. The video discusses how Polly Klass's murder was a catalyst for California voters to pass one of the most stringent versions of this law, which can result in a sentence of 25 years to life for a third felony conviction.

💡Prison

A prison is a facility where individuals are physically confined as punishment for committing crimes. The video explores the historical development of prisons, their role as a form of punishment, and the societal acceptance of incarceration as the standard response to serious crime.

💡Punishment

Punishment in the context of the video refers to the penalty imposed on individuals who have been convicted of a crime. The speaker reflects on the evolution of punishment from public and painful methods to the confinement in prisons, questioning the societal consensus on the appropriateness of imprisonment as a punitive measure.

💡Incarceration

Incarceration is the act of confining individuals within a prison as a form of punishment. The video discusses the normalization of incarceration and the historical shift from corporal punishment to imprisonment, raising questions about the effectiveness and ethics of this approach.

💡Penal Reform

Penal reform refers to changes made to the criminal justice system with the aim of improving its effectiveness, fairness, and humanity. The video highlights the efforts of penal reformers in the past who sought alternatives to public and painful punishments, leading to the establishment of prisons as a new form of punishment.

💡Solitary Confinement

Solitary confinement is the practice of isolating prisoners in separate cells for extended periods, often as a form of punishment or to maintain order. The video describes the early experiments with solitary confinement in American prisons, the severe mental and physical health issues it caused among inmates, and the subsequent adjustments made to this practice.

💡Auburn System

The Auburn System refers to a model of prison management where prisoners were kept in solitary confinement at night but worked together in silence during the day. This approach was developed in response to the failures and controversies of total solitary confinement, as discussed in the video.

💡Pennsylvania System

The Pennsylvania System, also known as the separate system, involved keeping prisoners in solitary confinement at all times, with the aim of promoting penitence and reform. The video contrasts this approach with the Auburn System and discusses the criticism it received, particularly from Charles Dickens, due to the severe psychological impact on inmates.

💡Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system encompasses the institutions and processes through which society addresses criminal behavior. The video delves into the historical development of this system, focusing on the shift from corporal punishment to imprisonment and the ongoing debates about the effectiveness and morality of incarceration.

💡Inmate

An inmate is an individual who is confined within a prison. The video uses the term to describe those who are subjected to various forms of punishment and confinement, highlighting the human cost and the challenges faced by those within the prison system.

Highlights

The impact of Polly Klass' murder on the development of California's three strikes law.

The personal connection to crime and the evolution of the speaker's interest in criminal punishment.

The historical novelty of prisons, emerging only around 230 years ago.

The distinction between jails, which are holding tanks, and prisons, which are for long-term punishment.

The public and painful nature of historical punishments, such as public executions.

The shift in attitudes towards public punishments and the rise of penal reformers.

The controversial introduction of prisons as a new form of punishment.

The high costs and long construction times associated with building early prisons.

Concerns about the humanity of prisons and the potential negative effects of long-term confinement.

The failed experiment of total solitary confinement and its impact on prisoners' mental health.

The development of the Auburn and Pennsylvania prison models as responses to the failures of early prisons.

The lasting criticism and scrutiny faced by prisons, particularly Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary.

Charles Dickens' critique of the Eastern State Penitentiary and his views on the Auburn system.

The normalization of prisons and the decline in questioning their fundamental role in society.

The current discussion on penal reform and the potential for rethinking the use of prisons.

The speaker's call to consider alternatives to prisons in light of ongoing issues within the prison system.

Transcripts

I thought about crime a lot as a little

kid when I was eight years old a little

girl named Polly Klass was kidnapped not

far from where I lived in California she

was taken out of her bedroom window and

later found murdered the man who

committed this terrible crime was a

repeat offender people said if only he

was still in prison

serving time for his previous offense

this never would have happened so people

started calling for longer prison

sentences in fact Polly's murder became

the primary motivation for California

voters to pass the nation's harshest

three strikes law under this law people

who had previously committed a felony

could go to prison for 25 years or life

when they committed a new crime I think

this whole thing had a big impact on me

because around the same time I don't

remember exactly when I started doing

something rather strange I was raised

Catholic so I'd say your prayers every

night laying in bed with my eyes closed

and hands folded on my chest I would ask

God to bless my parents and siblings to

help make me a good person and the

please make sure all the bad people go

to prison looking back at this habit a

good 25 years later I can't help but

think it's a little strange that as a

child I prayed for people to go to

prison I really thought about crime a

lot maybe that's why I decided to study

criminal punishment in college then

maybe that's why now that I'm a college

professor I spend my time studying

prisons throughout history basically

going to go to archives to study diaries

letters newspapers and records from old

prisons I'm kind of like a less

adventurous version of Indiana Jones

now as someone who studies prisons for a

living I look back at 8-year old me and

wonder how had I already decided that

prison is the appropriate punishment for

serious crime how does that happen how

did sending people to prison become so

normal

how did we as a society decide that

incarceration is the correct punishment

for a lot of people sending someone to

prison just seems like the natural thing

to do it's what we've always done right

short various times we've tortured and

killed people for committing crime but

we've always had prisons around for

average criminals right that's certainly

what I thought for a long time

but it turns out that's not exactly

right prisons are actually a pretty new

development in human history they only

emerged about 230 years ago around the

time of the American and French

Revolutions they popped up first in the

new United States than in England and

then in other places like Canada and

France people are usually surprised by

this

I always surprised by this the first

time I found out that's because we've

all seen movies or read stories about

olden times with people kept in some

sort of confinement like if you saw the

movie the Pirates of the Caribbean

there are several scenes with people

captain in a sort of cage you know like

the one with the dog the dog has the

keys in his mouth and the men have a

bone and they're trying to get the dog

to bring them the keys so they can break

out the men look like they're starving

their clothing is in tatters and they're

behind bars Johnny Depp is also in there

because he was a pirate a criminal but

that's not a prison now when I say a

prison I mean a place where we punish

convicted offenders for long term

confinement what we're seeing in movies

are actually what we would call jails so

what's the difference between a jail and

a prison a jail is actually a holding

tank not a place of punishment it

contained a mix of people not just

convicted criminals not even just

criminals and it usually kept people for

short periods of time days maybe weeks

this is what an English jail looked like

in the mid 1700s

now as awful as places like this were

they weren't considered places of

punishment nor were they just for

criminals instead they contained quite a

mix of people including debtors vagrants

accused criminals convicted criminals

and even sometimes witnesses held over

for trial and they were all kept

together in one big room criminals and

non criminals alike and they were all

kept there for different reasons

debtors would stay in jail until they

had paid back their debt accused

criminals would stay in jail until they

had been tried in court in those days

the court was held four times a year so

they might have to wait up to three

months for their trial convicted

criminals might be punished right away

but then go back to the jail so that

they could pay back their court fees and

fines in each of these cases staying in

jail wasn't supposed to be a punishment

but just a way to keep track of people

temporarily so they tended to stay for

short periods days weeks maybe months

so if jails weren't considered places of

punishment and they weren't just for

convicted criminals what was this is

what punishment looked like capital

punishment was the dominant well they're

not the most common form of punishment

at the time executions were public and

typically the whole town turned out to

see somebody get hanged or in some cases

burned boiled drowned or stoned death

wasn't just a serious punishment it was

a painful one as well other punishments

were also public and painful these

included whipping cutting off an ear

getting branded in the cheek or in the

hand this was one of the most mild

punishments at the time few people would

be sentenced to spend a few hours or

maybe a day in these wooden devices

called the pillory crowds would come out

to mock and jeer the people or maybe

throw rotten food and rocks at them so

how do we go from these to this around

the time of the American Revolution

things started to change in England

other European countries Canada and the

United States a growing number of people

found public painful punishments

distasteful others were worried that

these public painful punishments didn't

scare people in us people picking

pockets in the crowd of an execution was

pretty good evidence that the current

punishments didn't deter

others were worried or others turned

their attention to the jails

jails were overcrowded disease-infested

violent places and some people had a

problem with that it was in this context

that penal reformers and political

theorists began discussing alternatives

to this criminal justice system such as

it was and they came up with the prison

a new facility designed to punish

convicted criminals with long term

confinement what I find interesting

about the rise of the prison is it was

extremely controversial especially in

England and the new United States

no one knew how the prison would work in

reality some people were worried about

the expense prisons were and continue to

be extremely expensive undertakings

scaffolds and pillars were pretty cheap

and easy to build

likewise jails were just typical

buildings nothing fancy but prisons big

stone edifice is capable of holding 200

or maybe 500 people were extremely

expensive undertakings and they took

several years to build they also needed

a full staff to run them prison wardens

and superintendents usually supervised a

staff of about a dozen or so guards each

of whom needed to be paid by contrast

jailers in the old days would be paid by

the prisoners themselves who paid room

and board aside from the expense the

other big concern people had was whether

prisons would be sufficiently humane no

one knew how people would react in

captivity so penal reformers and

legislators endlessly discussed what

would happen when you put a human being

in captivity finally a lot of people

were nervous about whether the new

prisons would actually help to reduce

crime at the time people believed crime

was caused by your environment

especially the negative influence of

criminal types including potentially

your family and friends so the new

prisons were designed to limit prisoners

contact with the outside world but they

also didn't want the prisoners to

interact with each other so one strategy

involved forbidding prisoners from

talking with one another and then

whipping them if they did talk another

strategy to involve putting prisoners in

solitary confinement basically in a Cell

by themselves for the entire time so

even before the first prisons Oh

and people were nervous about their

expense about their humanity and about

their ability to reduce crime but what

really got people nervous was when they

started trying to put these ideas into

action a lot of the first prisons failed

miserably for example New York's first

state prison experienced a series of

riots in the 1810s the prison was

declared a failure and the state

legislature authorized a new prison to

take its place

Auburn State Prison would be bigger

stronger and more tightly controlled

than its predecessor in fact some of its

prisoners the hardest and most atrocious

offenders in the language of the time

would we would be kept in solitary

confinement for their entire prison

sentence in cells that were by the way

about a meter wide so about this big

when Auburn opened in the early 1820s

these prisoners kept in solitary

confinement immediately experienced

mental and physical health problems

including muscle atrophy disease and a

mental condition called decompensation

basically people were going insane some

mutilated their bodies others attempted

suicide and some died after a few years

officials called an end this experiment

as word leaked out policymakers around

the country declared this type of

solitary confinement unacceptable

something that I find interesting about

this story while policy makers decided

this type of solitary confinement was

unacceptable

they didn't think putting people in

prison was a problem because it turns

out even outside of this type of

solitary confinement people die and go

crazy in prisons it's definitely worse

when they're in solitary confinement the

whole time but persons are a pretty

harsh environment and people don't tend

to do well there the other thing I find

interesting about this story is while

they decided that solitary confinement

of this type was on it was unacceptable

they still believed that solitary

confinement of some kind was necessary

for the prison to function so in New

York the officials at Auburn State

Prison came up with a new approach

prisoners there would still spend their

time in solitary confinement at night

but during the day they would work

together silently in large factory life

rooms why boys Pennsylvanians decided

solitary confinement was safe

if he took appropriate precautions to

protect prisoners health so prisoners at

Philadelphia's Eastern State

Penitentiary cement their entire prison

sentence in solitary confinement in

rooms that were pretty big they would

also receive weekly visits from penal

reformers and prison administrators who

would teach the prisoners how to read

and write and also give them mentorship

whether the prisoners wanted it or not

during the day the prisoners would also

exercise their mind and body by working

within their cells making shoes chairs

and cabinets finally they had access to

a small private yard where they could

exercise the only time they would leave

their cell these two models the Auburn

approach in the Pennsylvania approach

were copied around the country so pretty

much every state that had a prison

continue to use solitary confinement of

some kind however the early failures

with the prisons especially the

experiment with total Salah count the

solitary confinement left a lasting

impression on people's minds prisons

became the subject of intense scrutiny

no people kept expecting that the prison

would fail like it had one Whitehead had

already failed so many times at this

point in fact the prison was heavily

criticized but not all prisons people

mostly focused their criticism on

Philadelphia's Eastern State

Penitentiary the one that kept its

prisoners in solitary confinement around

the clock most famously English author

Charles Dickens was horrified when he

visited that prison in a book about his

travels to America he criticized Eastern

for among other things imposing on its

prisoners and anguish so acute and so

tremendous that all imagination of it

must fall far short of the reality he

was sure Eastern's prisoners were slowly

going insane and if they weren't there

was certainly being tortured however

Dickens thought the Auburn approach was

great like others at the time he focused

his energy or his attention on the

approaches to incarceration not on the

practice of putting people in prison in

fact people continued to die and go

crazy in all prisons which by the way

were pretty expensive and crime rates

didn't magically decline but there were

no more repeats of the Auburn disasters

so in that sense the prison was a was a

six

over time when new failures happened

people always blame the approach to

incarceration or maybe the people who

ran the prison but never the prison

itself there was focused on fixing the

prison's worst parts and ignored the

prisons other bad parts so over time the

prison stuck around and that early

anxiety about what would happen when we

put people in prison for long periods of

time went away when I was growing up and

praying for bad people to go to prison

we as a society had come a long way from

those early days the days when

policymakers and prison administrators

were fretting so openly about what

happens when you walk people up for long

periods of time when I was starting high

school the United States was sending so

many people to prison that we had

reached historically unprecedented

incarceration rates when I went to

graduate school eight years later we

were locking up one and a hundred adults

but what has been remarkable about this

development when people are talking

about is not the fact that we send

people to prison but how often we do it

we've gotten so used to sending people

to prison even when something really bad

happens in a prison we talk about fixing

prisons and prison policies but not

asking if we should still have prisons

as a society we stopped asking that

question a long time ago and in thinking

about that early period I find it

puzzling how quickly people got over

their early fears about sending people

to prison and how when those fears

reappeared the answer was always to fix

the prison and not to get rid of it now

that people are talking about penal

reform again in Canada the United States

and other countries should we do what

we've done so many times before and keep

trying to fix the prison or is it time

that we did something else thank you

you

[Applause]