NCJ Number
196799
Date Published
1999
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This chapter focuses on the history of the use of force in the field of corrections.
Abstract
Providing a historical presentation of the use of force in the correctional field, this chapter begins with a discussion of the use of force, as punishment, from the time prior to the advent of written legal code, and traces punishment in early times, beginning with the Biblical period 3000 B.C. to 500 A.D. Focusing on John Locke’s notions of individual rights and the social contract, and following the division of religious and civic authority in England, the authors describe how the social contract perspective shaped the common law development of the authority over the use of force in England, Western Europe, and the United States. Highlighting the early American correctional experience, this chapter describes the practices of public and corporal punishment until the mid-1800’s and the rise of prisons in the early nineteenth century as a replacement for almshouses, poorhouses, and mental hospitals. Focusing on the judiciary, the authors maintain that prison administrators were given wide latitude to run prisons until the mid-1900’s, with a hands-off policy from the Federal courts. Since the 1960’s, the hands-off period has ended and inmate civil litigation has increased. This chapter concludes that while force has always been used in corrections, current trends focus on the treatment of inmates.