NCJ Number
106576
Date Published
1987
Length
750 pages
Annotation
These 26 essays examine the nature and function of the police, prisons, and punishments in the United States since the 17th century and show how developments in these institutions have paralleled cultural assumptions about the nature of human behavior.
Abstract
The analyses consider the decline of the rehabilitative ideal, the historical origin of the prison system, the common law history of probation, the history of the indeterminate sentence, and the origins of the movement to abolish capital punishment. Case studies examine the role of the sheriff in colonial North Carolina, the operation of a Wisconsin jail in 1901-1904, police behavior in Chicago in 1890-1925, the effectiveness of law enforcement in 18th century New York, and the issue of prison labor during 1875-1900. Other discussions consider the roles of David Livingston in American penology and August Vollmer, the first police chief of Berkeley, Calif., and the emergence of police professionalism. The development of the convict lease system in Georgia and the penal reform movement in the South during the Progressive Era of 1890-1917 are also examined. Tables, photographs, and footnotes.