Blog #15 - History of Men's and Women's Prisons

The prison system emerged as a result of industrialization and a rising free market economy that dramatically increased the wealth of some groups while worsening the poverty of others (Britton p. 24). There were rising rates of property crime. Early prison institutions contained all types of people; men, women, children, and the insane. From the beginning of the prison system, they have disproportionately held inmates of racial and ethnic groups and the poor (Britton p. 25). Two basic prison models existed in the early 1800’s, the Auburn plan and the Pennsylvania style. Under the Auburn plan, inmates worked during the day and confined to individual cells at night, while being completely silent. Both organizations organized their discipline around three central elements of separation, obedience, and labor. During this time, women criminals were “unlike their male counterparts, were beyond redemption, by nature corrupt, and outside the reach of the disciplinary regime of the penitentiary (Britton p. 27). Women were initially housed alongside men in the Auburn style prison and were kept in overcrowded, unventilated attics and were not allowed outside for work or exercise. Instead of doing manual labor, women were made to sew. Many scandals of inmates getting pregnant and having sexual relationships (which the women were held responsible for), occurred during this time and eventually separate facilities were established. Many of these prisons were run by a matron rather than a warden. Rehabilitative programs were not enforced fully until the late 19th century during the Reformatory movement. Separate institutions were justified under this movement because exploitation of women prisoners could be prevented and the opportunities for rehabilitation for both men and women enhanced. Currently, prisons lack rehabilitative ideology.

In Arizona, according to the state by state analysis, we are 7th ranked most punitive state for female imprisonment states. Imprisonment rates are rising dramatically, with a 62% growth rate between 1999-2004. Arizona’s history of prisons is similar to the history described in “At Work in the Iron Cage” because many of its first prisons contained both men and women. Many prisoners labored in Arizona prisons today much as they did in the beginning.