American Penitentiary System Research Paper

Characterised by periods of innovation and experimentation, the American Penitentiary System revolutionised the use of criminal incarceration across the globe. While early forms of criminal punishment were developed by European penal codes, Enlightenment theorists, in opposition to retributory practices, challenged these codes. It was during this upheaval the American Penitentiary materialised, shaped by the humanistic principles at that time. Two specific penitentiary systems emerged during this period, the Separate and the Silent system. Both a reflection of the reformist conventions that amassed in retaliation to the harsh European penal codes, they differed in their approach to solitary confinement, which affected how the prisons they influenced

Walnut Street Jail, Philadelphia, (1773-1838) was established as a state penitentiary in 1790 using Quaker reformist principles and served as the basis for what would later become the separate system. A reflection of Bentham’s Panopticon, the Jail incorporated solitary confinement, absolute silence and solitary penance to maintain prisoner civility and promote reformation as it was thought that criminality was brought about by bad connections and that through isolation and reflection they would become their own salvation (Ogborn, 1995). The theory of surveillance was central to the Panopticon’s design and inherently the separate system. This is furthered by Grass (2000) who argued that a vital aspect of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, thought it was never built, was in its ability to have all prisoners observed simultaneously as Bentham stressed that for it to instil reformative thoughts, the prisoner would need to feel that they are constantly under surveillance. This suggests that prisons under the separate system were characterised by the theory that feeling that they were being constantly observed would help shape a prisoner’s

An alteration of the Separate system’s ideals, the Silent System endeavoured to reform criminals through silence and penance, through where it differed was in the application of solitary confinement. This system was first trialled in Auburn Prison, New York (1816-) in 1824. Unlike the Separate System, the method at Auburn Prison included prisoners working together during the day and kept in solitary confinement at night, with enforced silence at all times. This was an attempt to rehabilitate prisoners by teaching them self-discipline and pride for work, property as well as others (King-To, 2015). This is reiterated by Johnston (2004) who highlighted that several changes made to the silent system, including that of diligent routines for prisoners to avoid disorder, harsh punishments and communal work, appear to have been made in response to criticism faced by the separate system prisons, suggesting that the silent system was improved upon from the faults of the separate