Blog 15

The birth of a penitentiary had risen from the ideal of social change. According to, At Work in the Iron Cage, industrialization and the rise in market economy played an important role in increasing wealth for some and hurting others that were in poverty. This rise caused concern for property crime in wealthy local communities. These wealthy people were afraid that there will be an increase in crime and the “communities carried out punishments through fines, lashings, and shaming” (PowerPoint). Therefore, a penitentiary was established to decrease violence. However, when the first prison was made in Massachusetts in 1785, it was designed to decrease violence but instead it increased it.

Men and women prisons have similarities as well as differences between the two. The similarity that these two penitentiaries have is “discipline around separation, obedience and labor” (Britton, Pg. 26). These two penitentiaries differ in many ways as well. There were different types of penitentiaries which were the Pennsylvania and Auburn style penitentiaries. The Pennsylvania style penitentiary was “completely solitary” (PowerPoint). Women were viewed as being not really women because those who were suppose to be considered real women is to be idle. The other style of penitentiary, auburn was more of a military type of institution. There you couldn’t have any type of eye contact and they required for the inmates to march in “lock steps.” The women in that type of setting were worse then the men inmates. The women were perceived as breaking the stereotype of traditional gender roles. In women prisons they were also more than likely to get raped by male guards. The men were more likely to get punished that included beatings than the women. The women were given more traditional work such as sewing and cooking in penitentiaries. Women were ignored and did not have full right under law. Women were looked at it was their fault of getting raped and cause of initiating men to “masturbate.” In auburn, women were also kept in “over crowded third floor attics” above the institutions kitchen. Today, in Arizona, penitentiaries are very similar to the past because both contain men and women and the purpose of the institutions remains the same. There are individuals in these penitentiaries from different ethnic backgrounds and culture.

Reformers wanted a separation within these penitentiaries because bad habits began to rub off on one another and new habits were acquired. Reformers tried to remold these institutions by “offering a new version of the science of penology” (pg. 33). Reformers viewed each person in the penitentiaries as “unique” and thought that each one needed individual treatment rather then “punishment” (pg.33).