Past Punishment Practices During The Colonial Era

186 Words1 Pages
Past punishment practices during the colonial era were based on corporal punishment, often public and there is no evidence that it deterred crime. Moving on, reformers decided to change the penal codes focusing on being human, this brought about the changes to barbaric forms of punishment. Implementing the concept of reform brought about the idea of detention first served in workhouse facilities. The first penitentiary was built in 1790 and became an example of incarceration to other European countries. Past punishment practices such as beatings, mutilation and branding were inhuman and futile and none of the practices should be reinstated. Fixed sentences, lockstep, rules of silence and isolation were done away with. One form of punishment