Deck 4: Housing the Dangerous Classes: The Emergence of the Prison System

Question 1

According to Rusche and Kirchheimer, methods of punishment that are dominant during a particular period of time reflect:

A) dominant theories of crime causation
B) types of crimes and criminals prevalent at the time
C) changing religious beliefs
D) changing economic systems (modes of production)

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The Auburn system, in contrast to the Pennsylvania system:

A) stressed solitary confinement 24 hours a day
B) was back by Quakers and stressed repentance
C) had prisoners work in their cells alone
D) had prisoners work in groups and locked up by night

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The building of prisons in America in the 19th century represented a shift from mostly ______________ forms of punishment to mostly _______________ forms.

A) public; private
B) rehabilitation; revenge
C) brutal; quiet
D) private; public

Answer 3

A

Question 4

According to the author of this book, as far as the prison system is concerned, the period encompassing the past 40-50 years can be described as the era of:

A) rehabilitation
B) warehousing
C) work and education training
D) the silent system

Question 5

Following the Civil War, more than half of the prisoners in Southern states were:

A) white
B) African-American
C) under 21
D) about equally white and African-American

Question 6

Which of the following was the earliest forms of imprisonment?

A) the reformatory
B) the workhouse
C) houses of refuge
D) state prisons

Question 7

Recent trends in incarceration rates suggest which of the following conclusions?

A) these trends correspond exactly with the reduction in serious crime
B) such trends merely mark a continuation of a rise in incarceration rates that began in the 1930s.
C) such trends stem mainly from the "war on drugs"
D) these trends reflect the demise in the number of executions

Question 8

The modern system of parole had its origins in the practice known as:

A) ticket of leave
B) frankpledge
C) mark system
D) silent system

Question 9

Among the several varieties of "prison industries" begun in the 19th century included:

A) Contract system
B) State-use system
C) Convict leasing
D) All of the above
E) A and C only

Question 10

The odds of an African-American male born in 2001 going to prison someday is around:

A) 20%
B) 33%
C) 10%
D) 5%

Question 11

Looking at the population of the various components of the criminal justice system we find that during the decade of the 1980s and 1990s, the segment that increased the most was _____ population:

A) jail
B) prison
C) probation
D) parole

Question 12

The "Irish system" was:

A) a form of convict leasing
B) an early use of indeterminate sentencing
C) an early form of probation
D) another form of the Pennsylvania system

Question 13

The Pennsylvania system rested on the principle of:

A) Uninterrupted solitary confinement
B) strict corporal punishment
C) prisoners sleep in individual cells but eat and work together in groups.
D) None of the above.

Question 14

The first state prison in America was:

A) Eastern Penitentiary
B) Auburn State Prison
C) Newgate Prison
D) Walnut Street Jail

Question 15

Which of the following is not an example of punishment associated with the Auburn system?

A) lock step
B) work release
C) silent system
D) whipping

Question 16

The principle of "less eligibility" refers to:

A) the idea that only first offenders are eligible for probation
B) the belief that the conditions of prisons should never be better than the conditions of the lowest worker on the outside
C) the idea that one should not be sentenced for the lesser of several crimes
D) the belief that a prisoner should serve a certain minimum amount of time before being eligible for parole

Question 17

The Auburn system rested on the principle of:

A) Uninterrupted solitary confinement
B) Strict corporal punishment
C) prisoners sleep in individual cells but eat and work together in groups
D) None of the above.

Question 18

The reformatory system in the United States introduced which of the following innovations?

A) indeterminate sentencing
B) parole
C) probation
D) the silent system
E) a and b only

Question 19

The Federal Bureau of Prisons helped develop which of the following:

A) a new system of classification
B) new prison industries
C) a separate system of probation and parole
D) new educational and vocational training programs
E) all of these

Question 20

The movement that resulted in the prison system of Pennsylvania was led mostly by:

A) Catholics
B) Protestants
C) Quakers
D) Puritans

Question 21

Convict leasing involved leasing out prisoners to the local government.

Question 22

Compare and contrast the Auburn and Pennsylvania systems.

Question 23

The passage of several federal laws (e.g., Mann Act in 1910, Harrison Narcotic Act in 1914, Volstead Act in 1918, Dyer Act in 1919) was part of the reason for the creation of the federal prison system. Short

Question 24

Distinguish among the state-use, contract and convict lease system of prison industries.

Question 25

A system of punishment known as the "congregate system" was associated with the Pennsylvania system.

Question 26

What exactly is the "new American apartheid"?

Question 27

The first "House of Correction" was the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia.

Question 28

The emergence of the prisons system paralleled the emergence of a new form of "penal discipline."

Question 29

During colonial times, the death penalty was frequently imposed but actually rarely carried out.

Question 30

One of the forerunners of the modern prison system was the "house of correction."

Question 31

Why was the so-called Auburn system eventually adopted in the United States?

Question 32

"The Big House" is a term that refers to colonial versions of local jails and workhouses.

Question 33

The major cause of the increase in incarceration rates during the last two decades of the 20th century has been the rise in convictions for murder.

Question 34

Briefly discuss the relationship between the development of capitalism and the emergence of imprisonment. What were some of the connections between the two?

Question 35

During the 17th and 18th centuries imprisonment was the most common form of punishment. (F)