HISTORY OF PRISON

From the birth of modern civilization in 3rd millennia BC, almost every major
ancient civilization used concept of prisons as a mean to detain and remove
personal freedoms of incarcerated people. In those early periods of history,
prisons were often used as a temporary stopgap before sentencing to death or
life of slavery, but as time went on and our civilization developed, prisons started
morphing into correctional facilitiesthat started implementing the concept of
rehabilitation and reform of prisoners. In addition of holding convicted or
suspected criminals, prisons were often used for holding political prisoners,
enemies of the state and prisoners of war.

The earliest records of prisons come from the 1st millennia BC, located on the
areas of mighty ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. During those
times, prisons were almost always stationed in the underground dungeons
where guilty or suspected criminals spent their life either awaiting death
sentence, or a command to become slaves (often working as galley slaves).
Exception from that rule comes from the home of modern democracy - Greece.
There, prisoners were held in the poorly isolated buildings where they could
often be visited by their friends and family. Primary source of their detention
were not dungeons, high walls or bars, but simple wooden blocks that were
attached to their feet. Ancient Roman Empire however continued to use
harsher methods. Their prisons were built almost exclusively underground, with
tight and claustrophobic passageways and cells. Prisoners themselves were held
either in simple cells or chained to the walls, for life or for time. As slavery was
accepted norm in those days, majority of prisoners that were not sentenced to
death were sold as slaves or used by the Roman government as workforce. One
of the most famous uses for the slaves in Roman Empire was as "gladiators". In
addition to fighting in the arena (sometimes after lifetime of training in the
special gladiator training houses, or Luduses), many slaves were tasked as a
support workforce that enabled smoother run of the popular gladiator business.
The most famous Gladiator battleground, the mighty Colosseum Arena in Rome
had a slave army of 224 slaves that worked daily as a power source of the
complicated network of 24 elevators that transported gladiators and their wild
animal opponents from the underground dungeons to the arena floor.

[1]http://www.prisonhistory.net/prison-history/history-of-prisons/
[2]https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/famous-prisons-incarceration/history-of-
imprisonment/
[3] https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/training-resources/in-prison/faq-jail-prison/
The conditions in the European prisons remained harsh until English royalty
started being more involved with their justice system. Henry II commissioned the
construction of first prison in 1166, together with the first draft of English legal
system that used concept of jury. One of the most historic prison legislation was
introduced in 1215, when King John signed Magna Carta which stated that no
man could be imprisoned without trial. With the rise of the industry between 16
and 18th century English prisons became overcrowded, and new penal
measures started being implemented - military pardon and penal
transportations (during the end of 18th century, over 50 thousand prisoners were
transported from England to penal colonies in North America and Australia).
France even continued their practice of penal colonies until the middle of 20th
century (most notably in French Guiana and its infamous prison Devil's Island),
and Russia also used remote penal colonies in the frozen north-east Siberia.

The age of modern prisons that we know today started with the several prison
reforms in 19th century England. During that time prisoners started receiving
more care, concept of rehabilitation was introduced and governments around
the world (especially in UK and US) started reconsidering their views on solitary
confinement (which was primary source of the increased numbers of insane,
suicidal and catatonic prisoners). Wars that engulfed the world in the beginning
of 20th century brought the formation of large amounts of war prison
camps and concentration camps. Most famous examples of those types of
prisons happened during World War 2, when Nazi government formed over 300
detention centers in which political opponents, Jews, gypsies, criminals and
others were detained without judicial process. Majority of them was eventually
killed on an unprecedented massive scale that is today estimated to be
between 11 and 17 million people.
During the end of 20th century, modern prison system was finalized. Concept of
"Probation Service" was introduced in 1991, and three years before that first
prison intended solely for the holding of inmates in permanent isolation was
formed. Those "supermax" prisons became widespread across the entire United
States, with over 40 of them being active in the year 2005. Inmates in those
prisons are held in the 23h long periods of cell isolation, with occasional
communal yard time, work, educational programs and meals in cafeteria. As of
2006, it is estimated that over 9 million people are imprisoned worldwide with
United States leading in the rate of incarceration (743 per 100.000 people).

[1]http://www.prisonhistory.net/prison-history/history-of-prisons/
[2]https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/famous-prisons-incarceration/history-of-
imprisonment/
[3] https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/training-resources/in-prison/faq-jail-prison/
HISTORY OF IMPRISONMENT

London is known as the birthplace of modern imprisonment. A Philosopher

named Jeremy Bentham was against the death penalty and thus created a
concept for a prison that would be used to hold prisoners as a form of
punishment. Bentham drew up plans for a facility in which prisoners would
remain for extended periods of time. His design was intended to ensure that the
people who were locked up would never know if they were being watched by
guards or not, which he felt would allow the prison to save money. Since the
inmates could not be certain how many guards were present, Bentham
reasoned, fewer officers would need to be hired to maintain the peace. In the
end, this prison was never built, but the concept of using prisons as a form of
long term punishment did catch on.

By the 19th century, prisons were being built for the sole purpose of housing
inmates. They were intended to deter people from committing crimes. People
who were found guilty of various crimes would be sent to these penitentiaries
and stripped of their personal freedoms. Inmates were often forced to do hard
labor while they were incarcerated and to live in very harsh conditions. Before
long, one of the goals of a prison sentence became the rehabilitation of
inmates. Many people felt that the fear of being locked up would be enough to
deter an inmate from ever committing another crime, but other theories held
that policies should be introduced to help reform prisoners before they were set
free. These policies include mental examinations, educational programs and
sometimes even far more drastic measures such as electroshock therapy. An
opposing viewpoint to the rehabilitative effects of imprisonment claims that
being incarcerated will actually cause people to become even more involved
with a life of crime, because they become so enveloped in a criminal society
while living with other inmates. Regardless of these conflicting opinions on
rehabilitation of criminals, imprisonment continues to be one of the most
common forms of punishment around the world.

[1]http://www.prisonhistory.net/prison-history/history-of-prisons/
[2]https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/famous-prisons-incarceration/history-of-
imprisonment/
[3] https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/training-resources/in-prison/faq-jail-prison/
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JAIL AND PRISON

JAIL

Jails are usually local facilities under the jurisdiction of a city, local district, or
county. Jails are short-term holding facilities for the newly arrested and those
awaiting trial or sentencing. Those sentenced to serve a small amount of time
(less than a year) may be housed in the local jail for the duration of their
sentence.

PRISON
Prisons are institutional facilities under the jurisdiction of the state or federal
government where convicted offenders serve longer sentences. People who
have been found guilty of breaking a state law are usually sent to a state prison.
Those who have violated federal laws are typically sent to federal prison
located somewhere in the U.S. Some states have jails and prisons that are
privately operated–usually by a corporation. The state basically contracts with
these private facilities to house prisoners and does not have as much control
over how the facilities are operated.

[1]http://www.prisonhistory.net/prison-history/history-of-prisons/
[2]https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/famous-prisons-incarceration/history-of-
imprisonment/
[3] https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/training-resources/in-prison/faq-jail-prison/