Moral Ideals and Principles Underlying the Nature, Evolution, and Reform of American Prisons

FAIN: FB-12294-74

Claudia F. Card
University of Wisconsin, Madison (Madison, WI 53715-1218)

To critically examine the moral ideals and principles underlying the evolution and reform and American prisons, as manifested in their structures, the nature and severity of prison life, related practices such as sentencing and parole, and the state goals of imprisonment. since the Quakers established a penitentiary in 1790, where offenders were to become penitent through isolation and disciplined living, conflicting ideals have had their impact upon our prisons, and related practices. Such a study will help one to deal more clearly with the ethical problems involved in the analysis of punishment, the severity of punishment, and in assessing the compatibility of penal practcies with humanitarian goals.