| Description |
1 online resource : illustrations, maps |
| Series |
Cambridge historical studies in American law and society |
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Cambridge historical studies in American law and society.
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| Contents |
Faith and failure : experimenting with solitary confinement in America's early state prisons -- Born of conflict : the struggle to authorize the Pennsylvania system -- Uncertainty and discretion : the contours of control at Eastern State Penitentiary -- Criticism and doubt : the Pennsylvania system and the social construction of penal norms -- Neutralizing the calumnious myths : administrators' public defense of the Pennsylvania system -- Strategic manipulations : acceptable and unacceptable violations of the Pennsylvania system -- Turning a blind eye : reputation and the limits of administrative commitment -- An alternative status : administrators' transition form gentleman reformers to professional penologists -- Fading away : national obscurity, catastrophic overcrowding, and the individual treatment system |
| Summary |
"At a time when prisons were still new, and nearly every prison in the country followed the same model of confinement, Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary (opened in 1829) was known for its exceptional reliance on long-term solitary confinement. Eastern was criticized for its exceptional reliance on what was seen as an inhumane, expensive, and ineffective approach to confinement. Why did it persist in its deviance? This book traces the process by which Eastern's criticized method of confinement became institutionalized for its administrators. Often working against the opposition of the local penal reformers and state legislature, Eastern's administrators fought both publicly and behind the scenes to maintain their unique approach because of the particular value it offered them. Ultimately, this study retells the history of nineteenth century prison innovation and diffusion from the perspective of those actors most demonized within the penal field. It offers multiple lessons for understanding penal trends, including the way in which anxiety that about significant penal change shapes penal actors' decisions. It also illustrates how organizations, including state-run organizations, can continuously defy legal, penal, and cultural norms in ways standard organizational theories cannot explain"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from digital cover page (viewed on January 27, 2021) |
| Subject |
Prisons -- Pennsylvania -- History -- 19th century
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Prison administration -- Pennsylvania -- History -- 19th century
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Corrections -- Pennsylvania -- History -- 19th century
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Corrections -- United States -- History -- 19th century
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Corrections
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Prison administration
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Prisons
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Pennsylvania
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United States
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| Genre/Form |
History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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| LC no. |
2020020526 |
| ISBN |
9781108754095 |
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1108754090 |
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9781108605878 |
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1108605877 |
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