Erikson, Kai T. 2005. Wayward puritans: A study in the sociology of deviance (p.199-205). Pearson Education Inc.

This reading takes us beyond the period of the enlightenment and into the practical application of the new rationality. We enter the period, around the turn of the 19th century, where we witness the birth of the modern penal institution in the United States as the new form of discipline for the criminal or deviant element of society.

Dr. Erikson of the Yale department of sociology puts two early American penal models in juxtaposition and draws comparison.

The first is the Quaker model, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia and the second, Aburn State Prison in New York. Prior to these prison structures, penal institutions served mainly to hold convicts until execution or to hold "persons like debtors" with no convictions (p. 199). Until the advent of these two penal institutions, prisons had rarely been used as a form of punishment for convicted criminals (p. 199).

With the enlightenment period came a new rule of law. Rather than singling out people individually for each individual crime and deciding punishment on a case by case basis, the description of individual crimes became generalized so that individual actions would now fit a standard and in turn, punishment for crimes became standardized as well. Torture and being publicly put to death were out the window and instead criminals were to be imprisoned. Enter the modern age of penal institutions.

The early models of American penal institutions were much like everything else during this time period: An experiment. Many ideas as to how to implement this new form of punishment were abound.

The Quakers, still a political force during the period, conceptualized the penal model in Philadelphia which encompassed both the order of the law with respect to punishment as well as their own moral and religious leanings. The idea was that inmates were to be locked in separate cells where they were confined for the duration of their sentence. If the inmates had a useful trade they would engage in said trade in the privacy of their own cells and would take their exercise in solitude in isolated courtyards. The stated purpose of the "solitary treatment" was to give the inmates a chance at moral self reflection and a "chance to come to terms with their inner selves and gain a more religious outlook for the future" (p. 200). The intended purpose of such self reflection and internalized religious doctrine was to effect rehabilitation of the inmate. The governing philosophy here was that in this solitary yet humane setting, the inmates "natural grace" would be able to emerge (p. 202) changing the man so thoroughly that he should return to society without further criminal incident.

The New York model represented a different approach or set of ideals with respect to incarceration. Here, the inmates were locked in separate cells but would move into congregated workshops during the day to work. Some inmates would work outside the prison walls in "tightly disciplined gangs" and all would come together at meal time in a "common mess hall" (p. 200). Still, there was a catch. In order to maintain control of this congregation of men, silence was strictly enforced by way of corporal punishment. If you got out of line, you were whipped, period. Here the idea was not rehabilitation. The warden at Aburn believed these men to be inherently wicked or deviant. He did not believe that rehabilitation was possible, but sought instead to merely "curb or bend" the habits of these men to "fit the needs of society" (p. 202). This curbing and bending was again, achieved by a liberal use of the whip, intended to break the prisoner (p. 202). The philosophy in operation here is that though the man may not be rehabilitated, he should become "tamed" so that he is molded into a "passive, compliant, and dulled member of the social order" (p. 203).

It is obvious that as the penal system grew and matured, our society leaned towards the punitive side of punishment. Today, America has the largest prison population as compared to any other country in the world. Recidivism rates are enormous and the cost to the taxpayer and society as a whole much outweighs the benefit of the current mode of punishment. We are in desperate need of prison reform. The time has come for a new experiment.