There has been branding, mutilation, banishment, public humiliation, fines and imprisonment throughout the years of the prison systems. There were instruments used such as the skull cracker which was used to interrogate suspects, the pear which was inserted into an orifice of either a man or woman, and the rack which was used strictly for punishment (Allen, Latessa, Ponder, 2016). These pictures alone, made me glad I was not born during that era. In the early prisons, such as Pennsylvania and Auburn, they believed that staying silent or showing remorse for one’s crimes would prevent “cross infection” and promote good behavior. Those who supported the Pennsylvania prisons did so because they believed being separated from other prisoner’s allowed one time to think about the crime they had committed and ask for forgiveness. Those who supported the Auburn prisons thought it was cheaper to run, produced more money and provided better vocational training for the inmates (Allen, Latessa, Ponder, 2016). The cheaper way to run things is what was eventually accepted in all United Stated prisons, including Pennsylvania. Solitary confinement is still used in prison’s today and it is referred to as the hole however, they are served the same meal as other inmates and not just bread and water. Although in today’s society it is much more tolerant conditions, there are those inmates they may serve most of there sentence in solitary.
