The purpose and history of penitentiaries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The purpose and history of penitentiaries - Essay Example Thereafter, the Samarian records stated that an individual was to face death penalty for murder trials. In the â€Å"Law of Eshunna†, the punishment was based on a person’s social class; that is, those of the lower class were punished differently from those in the upper class. This law covered every aspect of a person’s social life which included divorce, marriage, and loans. This essay will there discuss the purpose and history of penitentiaries in depth, giving an analysis on how some people were punished for their wrong deeds. During the ambitious age of reform that came after the American Revolution, as a new nation, America was inspired to make a profound change in its public institutions. The country was also inspired to become the world’s example in social development. All the current American institutions; educational, governmental, and medical, were revolutionized during this time by the humanistic and rational principles of Enlightenment. From all the mentioned innovations during this period, the American democracy was the most influential. Second on the list was the intellectual export in prison reform and design (Colvin, 1997). Most prisons in the U.S during the 18th century were simply in form large holding pens. In these prisons, men and women, adults and children, and murderers and petty thieves, had their issues and affairs sorted out behind locked doors. Mutilation and physical punishment were so common during this period, and prisoners being abused by overseers and guards were totally assumed. In 1788, a group of famous and powerful Philadelphians converged at the home of Benjamin Franklin. These members of The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons expressed their concern about the poor condition of American prisons. Dr. Benjamin Rush talked the goal of the Society, which was to ensure that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sets international standards for the prisons. He proposed a radical idea which was to