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History and Purposes of Prisons

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History and Purposes of Prisons
History and Purpose of Penitentiaries
Jeffrey Brown
CJA234
July 7,2012
George Chavarria

History and Purpose of Penitentiaries
Crime has had an impact on society for years, and will continue to do so well into the future. The presence of criminals and criminal acts proved that there was and all ways will be a need for penitentiaries. Correctional facilities no matter if they are prisons, jails, or penitentiaries are all part of the criminal justice system. Their overall goal and objective is to house offenders with the hope to rehabilitate them and reintegrate them into society to have a positive impact. Penitentiaries have a strong history with society and will continue to serve an important purpose within the criminal justice system.
History of Punishment
Punishment is defined as a penalty inflicted for an offense, fault, or the severe handling or treatment (dictionary.com, 2012). The criminal justice system has evolved over year as has the forms off punishment that are used. In the early years of society punishment would sometimes be considered as harsh and cruel, but to society at that present time it was considered just. Some early forms of punishment were beating, stoning, slavery, and taking of offenders limbs such as arms, legs, fingers, eye, and sometimes a person’s head. Since crime has been a part of society it has given a need for punishment and given punishment a purpose. Seiter (2011) states “Cesare Beccaria suggested that the purpose of punishment is utility or the prevention of crime”.
Punishment was limited in the early years meaning that most punishments did not fit the crimes. Today more goes into punishment than just an “eye for an eye”, there are limits to the type of punishment an offender can receive based on the severity of the crime committed. Punishments vary from fines, probation, imprisonment, and the harshest being the different forms of capital punishment. While in the early years of punishment stealing food


References: Punishment. Dictionary.com (2012). Retrieved from www.dictonary.com/punishment. Seiter, R. P. (2011). Corrections: An Introduction third edition
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