Eastern State Penitentiary Reflection Paper

Eastern State Penitentiary Reflection Paper Eastern State Penitentiary is believed to be one of the very first prisons established, not only in the United States, but in the world. Eastern State was functional for 141 years until 1970 when the prison closed down. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the prison is now a stabilized ruin open to the public for tours. After personally touring the facility I was able to understand the main purpose of the prison, the living conditions and the daily routines of an Eastern State Penitentiary inmate, and attempted escapes which is why prisons like Eastern State should not be used in our modern Criminal Justice System. It was designed for strict solitary confinement and had little to no rehabilitation programs. The prison was and still is not temperature controlled. The inmates suffered extreme summers and harsh winters while staying at Eastern State. Their rooms were quite small and only had a bed, some sort of dresser, and a toilet. The condition of the cells, with the exception of Al-Capone’s cell which was much larger and more comfortable than the rest of the cells, suggest that the designers of the prison wanted the inmates stay at Eastern State to be unpleasant. This prison was built for the sole purpose of punishment. For example, Elmo Smith was the 350th person to be executed by the electric chair in the United States on April 2, 1962. He was also the last person to be killed using the electric chair in Pennsylvania. Although the inmates were required to work within the prison walls they did not receive help with the problems that landed them in Eastern State in the first place, such as alcohol and drug abuse. Therefore the type of punishment that was seen at Eastern State did not maximize the welfare of individuals because inmates were not rehabilitated. As stated earlier, the inmates worked in the kitchen, infirmary, workshops, and barbershops. In the twentieth century you could see an inmate barbershop