Penitentiaries, Reformatories, and Chain Gangs : Social Theory and the History of Punishment in Nineteenth-Century America

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and Informative
Review: The penitentiary, reformatory and chain gang were all developed during the 19th century, which belies the importance of that century to American history and the history of punishment in particular as it forms the bridge between earlier forms of punishment in Colonial America and the development of the modern penal system.

Mark Colvin has made a solid contribution to this history with an informative, well-researched and well-written study of the evolution of punishment in America. Taking his cues from such theorists as Durkheim, Foucault, Elias and Marxist notions of punishment, Colvin applies their theories to each major step in the development of the American penal system. He examines how punishment differs from reform, examines the establishment of women's reformatories during and after the Civil War, and, most interestingly, traces the development of the Southern chain gang and leasing of prisoners to companies as an extension of antebellum slavery. Engrossing and comprehensive, this is a study recommended to all those interested in the roots of the modern justice system.