Presentation Transcript

1. Prison Systems 6th period

   Zach Smith, Brett Haney, Zack Stephens, Ty Stewart, and Kadence Swindall
2. The Poor Law of 1601 The Poor Law of 1601 in England assigned responsibility for the poor to the parishes (local government). These parishes built workhouses to employ the poor on a profitable basis. This turned out be a difficult thing to accomplish and in the 18th century workhouses turned into receptacles where anybody could be dropped off at. A lot of times orphans were dropped off at workhouses simply because orphanages were crowded.
3. Punishment Punishment in the Victorian era could range from mild to the severe. Most punishment was capitol punishment and resulted in death. Children could be sentenced to months of hard labor for a crime as simple as stealing rabbits.
4. Debtors Prison Debtors prison is a prison where people who couldn’t pay off their debts where sent to until they could pay their debt off. Most people never left because they couldn’t pay of their debts. Prisoners often had to make potato sacks or other mass produced items in debtors prison.
5. Early Police Forces The Bow Street runners were the first real police force in England and were very effective. The Government realized how effective a police force was for combating crime in the city. In 1829 Sir Robert Peel founded the Metropolitan police force.
6. Prison Reforms In the early 1860’s prisons began to reform. Elizabeth Gurney Fry played a key role in helping reform prisons. By the time prisons had been reformed it was said that people lived better in prison than on the streets.
7. Conditions in the Debtors Prison One variation of the debtors prison was the “Sponging House” it housed people who couldn’t pay off their debts. Some people in the prison were upper class people. Imprisonment was a common practice in Victorian England. When entering workhouses people were known as inmates and given small portions of cheap food such as bread, cheese, broth, rice, milk, and potatoes. Conditions in workhouses were basic. Sickness wasn’t considered a problem for the Poor Law Act.
8. Who Used Workhouses and When They Were Made. Workhouses were made in 1834. Workhouses were used through the 19th century by some places such as Victorian England. Workhouses were used for people who couldn’t pay off debts.
9. Marshalsea Prison The Marshalsea Prison was located in St.Georges Churchyard Southwark which is current London. Lasted from 1329-1842. Housed people that committed unnatural crimes. The most famous in the prison were debtors. The prison looked like an Oxbridge college, but functioned largely as an extortion racket.
10. Bankruptcy and Debt If and when you were bankrupt your name was published in the official biweekly London Gazette. The Bailiff would take your goods and your house. Creditors would try and liquidate your possessions for the debt. When you were in debt there were bill brokers and money lenders like Fledgeby.
11. People in the Workhouses The people were often paupers, debtors, orphans, lunatics, and criminals. 2/3’s of all crimes were committed by males under the age of 25. Kids whether they wanted to or not participated in every activity in the camp.
12. Prisons and Crime Usually prison was just for major crimes and the punishment was just sentencing for weeks or months. In Queen Victoria’s time they started putting criminals in prison for lesser crimes and they stayed there for years.
13. Prison and Crime Queen Victoria was a firm believer in punishment. If it was something serious they transported them to many different countries. There was an average of 312 murders, 3,812 burglaries , 63,604 thefts.
14. Workhouses Boys older than 12 were sent to work to pay off their family’s debt. Women did most of the domestic work such as cleaning or helping in the kitchen. Most people who were poor would rather not go to the workhouses because they saw it as a fate worse than death.
15. Workhouses In their cells they had a bed, wash basin, and a place to use the bathroom.
16. Prisons During the 1800’s In debtors prison poor people who were in debt worked it off in this type of prison. Jails during this time period were mostly dark, overcrowded, and very filthy, all the prisoners were herded together with no separation.
17. Prisons During the 1800’s Towards the 19th and through the 19th century prisons started sentencing people with lesser crimes such as theft. Until the 19th century prisons weren’t a real form of punishment. They had originally been executed, banished or fined.
18. Orphans Some orphans were abused by their masters in the workhouse. Disobedient children would be severely beaten by birch rods or shut into the “Dead Room” (mortuary) for the night.
19. Orphans Orphans masters took advantage of their youth and powerlessness. If orphans were abused they could not protest against their masters even though their masters actions may have been unlawful.
20. Women and Children in Prison If a prisoner was too young for the treadmill they would be set to picking oakum for the ships. Women and children could spend a month of hard labor as long as they were 12 years old for stealing a rabbit.
21. Women and Children in Prison Children's masters would force them into pickpocketing and prostitution. Textile factories sometimes used children from workhouses and orphanages they became known as pauper apprentices.
22. Orphans in Workhouses Children could not leave workhouses without permission. Owners of large textile mills would buy children to work there.
23. Orphans in Workhouses Women and children in prison ate gruel, a thick lumpy type of porridge with milk nuts, stale cheese crackers, two dried slices of bread and water. By the 1700’s 1/3 of the workers were pauper apprentices.
24. Reformers Captain Alexander Maconochie made a system of marks in which prisoners could reduce their sentence. In the U.S. , John Howard and the legislative worked to convert the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia into the first modern state penitentiary. In the prison , the more dangerous criminals were put in solitary cells. However , after a few decades the institution was overcrowded and neglected.
25. Elizabeth Fry Elizabeth Fry worked to expose prison conditions in England. In 1813 , Fry visited the women's part of the Newgate Prison. Some of the women were found guilty of crimes , but others were still waiting to be trialed. She spoke to the House of Commons and tried to convince them to fix the conditions. She had no luck , and the House of Commons came to the conclusion that Fry was dangerous.
26. 19th Century Reforms The Auburn Silent System , said inmates should not have contact with each other. If the inmates spoke to each other they had severe punishments. The lack of communication caused the inmates to go insane , so the system was a failure. The Pennsylvania System insisted on having all convicts on solitary confinement 24/7. The system was only broke for handcraft labor , Bible reading , and moral instruction.
27. 20th Century Reforms There was a trend in the 20th century to establish special programs for different offenders. A few European countries allowed home visits and outside employment. In the U.S. it was customary to bring in outsiders to help with therapy or to broaden the opportunities for socialization. Due to lack of space , some prisoners had to be let out early to make room for more offenders.
28. Current Issues The major problem in prisons today is overcrowding. The overcrowding developed because of new laws causing longer sentences , eliminate parole for certain crimes , and an increase in the number of crimes committed. Like the 20th century , some old prisoners have to be released early for more room.