Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick, Canada is an institution that is part of Corrections Canada. Opened in 1880 as a maximum security prison, it now functions as a medium security facility.

A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Prisons are conventionally institutions, which form part of the criminal justice system of a country, such that imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime.

In popular parlance of many countries, the term jail, also spelt gaol, is considered synonymous with prison, although legally these are often distinct institutions: typically jails are intended to hold persons awaiting trials or serving sentences of less than one year, whereas prisons hosts prisoners serving longer sentences.

A criminal suspect who has been charged with or is likely to be charged with a criminal offense may be held on remand in prison if he or she is denied, refused or unable to meet conditions of bail, or is unable to post bail. This may also occur where the court determines that the suspect is at risk of absconding before the trial, or is otherwise a risk to society. A criminal defendant may also be held in prison while awaiting trial or a trial verdict. If found guilty, a defendant will be convicted and may receive a custodial sentence requiring imprisonment.

Prisons may also be used as a tool of political repression to detain political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, and "enemies of the state", particularly by authoritarian regimes. In times of war or conflict, prisoners of war may also be detained in prisons. A prison system is the organizational arrangement of the provision and operation of prisons, and depending on their nature, may invoke a corrections system. Although people have been imprisoned throughout history, they have also regularly been able to perform prison escapes.

History

For most of history, imprisoning has not been a punishment in itself, but rather a way to lock up criminals until corporal or capital punishment. Dungeons were used to hold prisoners; those who were not killed or left to die there often became galley slaves or faced penal transportations. In other cases debtors were often thrown into debtor's prisons, until they paid their jailers enough money in exchange for a limited degree of freedom. Only in the 19th century did prisons as we know them today become commonplace.

The first "modern" prisons of the early 19th Century were sometimes known by the term "penitentiary" (a term still used by some prisons in the USA today): as the name suggests, the goal of these facilities was that of penance by the prisoners, through a regimen of strict disciplines, silent reflections, and maybe forced labor on treadwheels and the like. This "Auburn system" of prisoner management was often reinforced by elaborate prison architectures, such as the separate system and the panopticon. It was not until the late 19th Century did rehabilitation through education and skilled labor become the standard goal of prisons.

Design and facilities

The main entrance to the Utah State Prison.

Male and female prisoners are typically kept in separate locations or separate prisons altogether. Prison accommodation, especially modern prisons in the developed world, are often divided into wings. A building holding more than one wing is known as a "hall".

Amongst the facilities that prisons may have are:

• A main entrance, which may be known as the 'gatelodge' or 'sally port' (stemming from old castle nomenclature)
• A chapel, mosque or other religious facility, which will often house chaplaincy offices and facilities for counselling of individuals or groups
• An 'education facility', often including a library, providing adult education or continuing education opportunities
• A gym or an exercise yard, a fenced, usually open-air-area which prisoners may use for recreational and exercise purposes
• A healthcare facility or hospital
• A segregation unit (also called a 'block' or 'isolation cell'), used to separate unruly, dangerous, or vulnerable prisoners from the general population, also sometimes used as punishment (see solitary confinement)
• A section of vulnerable prisoners (VPs), or protective Custody (PC) units, used to accommodate prisoners classified as vulnerable, such as sex offenders, former police officers, informants, and those that have gotten into debt or trouble with other prisoners
• A section of safe cells, used to keep prisoners under constant visual observation, for example when considered at risk of suicide
• A visiting area, where prisoners may be allowed restricted contact with relatives, friends, lawyers, or other people
• A death row in some prisons, a section for criminals awaiting execution
• A staff accommodation area, where staff and guards live in the prison, typical of historical prisons
• A service/facilities area housing support facilities like kitchens
• Industrial or agricultural plants operated with convict labour
• A recreational area consisting of a TV and pool table

A corrections officer

Prisons are normally surrounded by fencing, walls, earthworks, geographical features, or other barriers to prevent escape. Multiple barriers, concertina wire, electrified fencing, secured and defensible main gates, armed guard towers, lighting, motion sensors, dogs, and roving patrols may all also be present depending on the level of security. Remotely controlled doors, CCTV monitoring, alarms, cages, restraints, nonlethal and lethal weapons, riot-control gear and physical segregation of units and prisoners may all also be present within a prison to monitor and control the movement and activity of prisoners within the facility.

Modern prison designs, particularly those of high-security prisons, have sought to increasingly restrict and control the movement of prisoners throughout the facility while minimizing the corrections staffing needed to monitor and control the population. As compared to the traditional landing-cellblock-hall designs, many newer prisons are designed in a decentralized "podular" layout with individual self-contained housing units, known as "pods" or "modules", arranged around centralized outdoor yards in a "campus". The pods contain tiers of cells laid out in an open pattern arranged around a central control station from which a single corrections officer can monitor all of the cells and the entire pod. Control of cell doors, communications and CCTV monitoring is conducted from the control station as well. Movement out of the pod to the exercise yard or work assignments can be restricted to individual pods at designated times, or else prisoners may be kept almost always within their pod or even their individual cells depending upon the level of security. Goods and services, such as meals, laundry, commisary, educational materials, religious services and medical care can increasingly be brought to individual pods or cells as well.

Conversely, despite these design innovations, overcrowding at many prisons, particularly in the U.S., has resulted in a contrary trend, as many prisons are forced to house large numbers of prisoners, often hundreds at a time, in gymnasiums or other large buildings that have been converted into massive open dormitories.

Lower-security prisons are often designed with less restrictive features, confining prisoners at night in smaller locked dormitories or even cottage or cabin-like housing while permitting them freer movement around the grounds to work or activities during the day.

See Panopticon for a historical prison design that has influenced modern designs.

Types

Juvenile

Prisons for juveniles (people under 18) are known as young offenders institutes and hold minors who have been convicted, many countries have their own age of criminal responsibility in which children are deemed legally responsible for their actions for a crime.

See also: Juvenile delinquency

Military

Official website

Official statistic (2005)

Germany

Further information: Prisons in Germany

Germany has 194 prisons (of which 19 are open institutions). Official statistics showed 80,214 places on March 31, 2007. On the same day, there were 75,719 prisoners (of which 13,168 pre-trial; 60,619 serving sentences; 1,932 others, i.e. mainly civil prisoners; 4,068 were female). This is less than the highest value of 81,176 prisoners on March 31, 2003.^[21][22]

Ireland

Most jails in the Republic of Ireland were built in the 19th century, including Kilmainham Gaol (no longer in use), Mountjoy Prison and Portlaoise Prison. A new €30m prison is planned at Thornton Hall to replace Mountjoy.

Japan

Further information: Penal system of Japan

Mount Eden Prison is a 19th century brick stockade located just south of the Auckland CBD, a very populous (and affluent) neighbourhood of Mt Eden in Auckland, New Zealand.

New Zealand

Further information: Department of Corrections (New Zealand) and List of correctional facilities in New Zealand

New Zealand currently maintains 19 prisons around the country. The DOC (Department of Corrections) has an annual budget of NZD$748 million and assets worth over NZD$1.7 billion. Official statistics show (as of June 30, 2007) that there are currently 7,605 prisoners within the New Zealand correctional system. (5,490 Secntenced Prisoners and 1,552 Remanded Prisoners) + 5,795 staff. Breakouts are only at 0.15 per 100 prisoners and there is a rate of only 15% positive drug results during random drug testing in NZ prisons. ^[23]

Poland

As of the end of August 2007, Poland officially declared 90,199 prisoners (13,374 pre-trial; 76,434 serving sentences; 391 others; 2,743 prisoners were female), giving an imprisonment rate per 100,000 inhabitants of about 234. The overpopulation rate (number of prisoners held compared to number of places for prisoners) was estimated by the official prison service as 119%.^[17]

The growth rate of imprisonment in Poland during 2006-2007 was approximately 4% annually, based on the August 2007 estimate of 90,199 prisoners and the June 2005 estimate of 82,572 prisoners.^[24]

Turkey

Prisons in Turkey are classified as closed, semi-open and open prisons. Closed prisons are separated into different kinds according to its structure and the number of the prisoners held. Examples are A type, B type, and F type. F types are the ones in which high penalty prisoners are held. Most which are being built today are L types that are for low penalty prisoners.

United Kingdom

Further information: Scottish Prison Service, Northern Ireland Prison Service, Her Majesty's Prison Service, United Kingdom prison population, and List of United Kingdom prisons

United States

Further information: Prisons in the United States

Correspondence

Research indicates that inmates who maintain contact with family and friends in the outside world are less likely to offend and usually have an easier reintegration period back into society [3]. Many institutions encourage friends and families to send letters, especially when they are unable to visit regularly. However, guidelines exist as to what constitutes acceptable mail, and these policies are strictly enforced.

Mail sent to inmates in violation of prison policies can cost inmates "gain time" and even lead to punishment. Most Department of Corrections websites provide detailed information regarding mail policies. These rules can even vary within a single prison depending on which part of the prison an inmate is housed. For example, death row and maximum security inmates are usually under stricter mail guidelines for security reasons.

There have been several notable challenges to prison corresponding services. The Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) stated that effective June 1, 2007, inmates would be prohibited from using pen pal [4] websites citing concerns of fraud. [5] Service providers such as WriteAPrisoner.com, together with the ACLU, plan to challenge the ban in Federal Court. [6] Similar bans on an inmate's rights or a website's right to post such information has been ruled unconstitutional in other courts, citing First Amendment freedoms. [7] Also, since most DOCs already post inmate information on their websites, critics claim this is a moot point. Inmates' ability to mail letters to other inmates has been limited by the courts. [8] Inmate correspondence with members of society is typically encouraged because of the positive impact it can have on inmates, albeit under the guidelines of each institution and availability of letter writers.

Corresponding with prisoners can be very helpful to them but carries risks for both correspondents; improper mail to inmates can cost them privileges (normally, all mail to inmates is read by prison staff). Use of a pen-pal service reduces (but not eliminates) these risks; as of 2005, there were more than 36 such services for U.S. prisoners.

See also

Anton Praetorius (early prison reformer) Community service Department of Corrections Dispute Resolution Jailhouse lawyer Kishka (prison cell) Penal labour Penology Prison abolition movement Prison education Prison escape Prison officer Prison reform Prison religion Prison sexuality (homosexuality and abuse in prisons) Prisoners' rights Punishment Rehabilitation

Specific prisons List of prisons List of notable prisons Correctional Facilities of Ontario, Canada Types of imprisonments False imprisonment House arrest Life imprisonment Protective custody Remand Solitary confinement Types of prisons Boot camp Borstal Death Row Jail Juvie Panopticon Penal colony Private prisons Roundhouse Supermax Village lock-up Game Prison Tycoon

Notes

1. ^ Smith et al, 2002
2. ^ Andrews and Bonta, 2003
3. ^ Smith et al, 2002
4. ^ Andrews and Bonta, 2003
5. ^ Andrews and Bonta, 2003
6. ^ e.g.Moffit T E, Caspi A, Harrington H and Milne B J (2002) Males on the life-course persistent and adolescence-limited pathways: Follow-up at age 26, Development and Psychopathology, 14: 179 - 207
7. ^ Andrews and Bonta, 2003
8. ^ Andrews and Bonta, 2003
9. ^ Andrews and Bonta, 2003
10. ^ Andrews et al, 1990
11. ^ Andrews and Bonta, 2003
12. ^ World Prison Population List (Seventh Edition). Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
13. ^ Harrison, Paige M., Allen J. Beck (June 2006). Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
14. ^ http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance.htm
15. ^ Prison population statistics. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
16. ^ ^{a b} World Prison Population List (Seventh Edition). Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
17. ^ ^{a b} Statistics - August 2007 (pdf) (Polish). Prison Service, Poland (Służba Więzienna) (August 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
18. ^ US Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisons[1]
19. ^ US Bureau of Justice Statistics, Jails[2]
20. ^ http://www.maatschappijleerwerkstuk.nl/tabellen/tabel9_3.html
21. ^ Official Prison Statistics of Germany (from the German statistics office)
22. ^ Prison Archive (from the University of Bremen)
23. ^ http://www.corrections.govt.nz/public/aboutus/factsandstatistics/
24. ^ Statistics - June 2006 (pdf) (Polish). Prison Service, Poland (Służba Więzienna) (June 2006). Retrieved on 2007-10-07.

References

• Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison, New York: Random House 1975.
• Peter Kropotkin, "In Russian and French Prisons". Online book. This is a criticism of the existence of prisons.
• James (Jim) Bruton, Big House: Life Inside a Supermax Security Prison, Voyageur Press (July, 2004), hardcover, 192 pages, .
• George Jackson, Soledad brother, .
• Paula C. Johnson, Inner Lives: Voices of African American Women in Prison, New York University Press 2004.
• Marek M. Kaminski (2004) Games Prisoners Play. Princeton University Press. . http://webfiles.uci.edu/mkaminsk/www/book.html
• Ted Conover. Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing. Knopf, 2001. Trade paperback, 352 pages, .
• Mark L. Taylor. The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2001. .
• Wil S. Hylton. "Sick on the Inside: Correctional HMOs and the coming prison plague". Harper's Magazine, August 2003.
• World Prison Population List (fourth edition) UK Home Office, 2003. ISSN 1473-8406.
• Jorge Franganillo. "Blogs in prison libraries", 2006. Summary of a cultural extension workshop in a juvenile detention facility.
• Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. and the Aristocracy of Prison Profits.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Prisons

• Prison Statistics - US Bureau of Justice Statistics
• Home Office, UK - Justice & prisons
• Prison abolition

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