The correction system originated in the medieval ages. While comparing the history of corrections and the current corrections it can be concluded that there are a huge number of differences and similarities that have existed since the correction system was started. Initially, the colonists borrowed from the English heritage to settle in the American land. The paper’s main aim is to compare the history of corrections and the current corrections of today.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the criminal code was refined enough to be implemented completely and successfully for that time to handle the crime rate. The history of the past corrections is full of surprises and the implementation of capital punishment for several different crimes in which the uncontrollable were horse stealing, murder, arson, and kids disrespect for parents (Stohr, Mary, and Anthony). The eighteenth century was crueler, and capital punishment, which included only the penalty to death was also implemented as a public embarrassment. At that time, the offender of this law was locked in a pillory in the public area with their head and hands knotted with wooden logs and it involved physical pain and abuse. Moreover, these kinds of punishments were mostly implemented on the slaves to control their run-offs, resolving conflicts with their masters and other equal-level slaves. Many times, the whites were also involved in some of the above-mentioned crimes but they were ignored and fined only so that the compensation would be granted to the victim.
Currently, the same kind of public embarrassment is also seen in which if a person with a nature of child abuse or sex offending nature living in the society would be nominated by making posters or paedophiles picture of his picture and hang them in different public interactive spots to let the public know about him (Clette, Frédéric, and Laure, 2633-2643). Moreover, parents who watch their children on the internet and are worried about their safety would also use embarrassing tools to teach them some proper action on social media websites including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as many other famous websites on which the kids are active.
In the early part of the 20th century and a little start of the 21st century, the jail acted as a punishment in which the offenders and criminals waited for their trial or sentencing. Moreover, they are also required to stay in jail for longer because of their inability to pay their debts or because they have tried to run away from their commitments,
In today’s society, jails are also used for individuals who wait for their trial to happen, and after that, they are released or put on bail. Jail is also used for a short punishment of a couple of months or a year of incarceration (Clear et al.). Currently, the individual has to stay in jail after the trial if found guilty but in the past the actions were a little harsh and unjust (Bindler, Anna, and Randi). The people who were found even expected to be the offenders were killed. Deterrence is still used in society for the protection of the people.
In a nutshell, there is a great difference between the history of the corrections and the present corrections. Many other changes in capital punishment were seen in the 19th and 20th centuries, in which labour and free men’s actions were counted as offences and capital punishment. The laws are now refined and reformed but still, many clauses would be amended as per the requirements of modern society.
Works Cited
Stohr, Mary K., and Anthony Walsh. Corrections: the essentials. Sage Publications, 2018.
Clette, Frédéric, and Laure Lefèvre. “The new sunspot number: assembling all corrections.” Solar Physics 291.9-10 (2016): 2629-2651.
Clear, Todd R., Michael D. Reisig, and George F. Cole. American corrections. Cengage Learning, 2018.
Bindler, Anna, and Randi Hjalmarsson. “The Fall of Capital Punishment and the Rise of Prisons: How Punishment Severity Affects Jury Verdicts.” (2017).
