Penitentiary ideal and the two models of American prisons

Penitentiary Ideal and two models of American Prison System

Word “penitentiary” brings to one's mind images of friendless punishment and imprisonment for criminals who have committed heinous crimes. Today, there is totally different perception of “penitentiary” today than its actual meanings. Back in the 1800s when penitentiaries ideal was developed, it was meant to be spiritual as well as secular. In an era when penitentiaries ideal came into being, jails used to be unsanitary and used to contribute less towards the inmates as correctional facility (making them responsible citizens by teaching them skills so that they can go out and contribute to the society), and concept of penitentiary was a complete reverse of the concept of jail. Penitentiary was supposed to be healthy and clean in stark opposition to the concept of jail which used to be quite dirty and unsanitary. In penitentiary, only humane punishment was supposed to take place unlike inhumane punishment in jails. This is to stop the contamination of inmates' bodies as well as their characters'. Even though in penitentiary, convicts often were separated from each other, but this practice has its noble purpose too. And the purpose was to make inmates practice therapeutic self-discipline and make them a skilled worker through their comprehensive vocational training which can be useful for the industry.

In penitentiary, convicts also used to get physical punishments but only when things got out of the hands and the violent tendencies which a convict has developed can only be suppressed through punishment. In penitentiary, punishment was used as a last resort we can safely say. Primary focus of penitentiary was to involve the convicts and work towards their rehabilitation to make them responsible citizens as well as towards their spiritual improvement so that they can find an ...