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History of Punishment

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The Purpose and history of penitentiaries
The history and purpose of penitentiaries started during the year of 1790 the first prison was created to house criminals. Criminals while in jail were expected to read the bible and to concentrate on the crimes they committed. The term penitentiary began to be use to help to describe the facilities used to hold the prisoners serving sentences.
The History of Punishment
The earliest history of punishment was extremely brutal and included things such as torture beatings, branding and mutilation. American Colonies based their development of punishment of the English criminal codes as well as the incorporation of the Puritans’ linking of crime with sin. Bolections of expected community were dealt with severely using corporal and capital punishment to help control with the behavior of criminals and others in society.
The corporal punishments were created so that the punishment was equivalent to the crime. For example if you were a thief during this time your fingers were cut off. If a person was caught laying their tongues were taken out. Another punishment known as transportation was common where criminals were removed from society was developed. Whipping in the town center was a usual punishment for slander, public intoxication, and small theft. A vast majority of the forms of punishment were done publicly to embarrass the criminal and deter others from committing similar acts.
John Howard plays an important role in history as a sheriff of Bedfordshire, England who was taken captive as a prisoner by a French privateer. He was later released back to his country, but was traumatized by the horrific conditions which resulted in the deaths of his fellow ship mates. After becoming a sheriff he vowed to change the way the jail system worked by making the release of prisoners equal to those who could not afford to get out of

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