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

Over the course of U.S. history, the very definition of punishment in America has been subject to a variety of changes and has served as the basis for much debate. Mark Colvin examines three case studies from the 19th century that represent shifts in the interpretation of punishment: the rise of penitentiaries in the Northeast; the changes in treatment of women offenders in the North; and the transformation of punishment in the South after the Civil War. In addition, he examines topics such as how punishment differs from reform, the treatment of women in reformatories, and the notion that convict leasing and chain gangs of black prisoners in the South are a perpetuation of plantation slave labor.

Mark Colvin is Associate Professor of Sociology at George Mason University.

Rival Theories of the Transformation of Punishment Systems and Penal Practices * Part I: Case Study One: The Rise and Consolidation of the Penitentiary in the Northeast * From Colonies to Early Republic * Market Revolution and the Consolidation of the Penitentiary in the Northeast * Applying Theories to the Rise and Consolidation of the Penitentiary in the Northeast * Part II: Case Study Two: The Transformation of Gender Roles and the Punishment of Women Offenders in the North * Before the Civil War * The Purity Crusade, Progressivism, and the Development of Women’s Reformatories * Applying Theories to the Transformation of the Punishment of Women Offenders * Part III: Case Study Three: The Transformation of Criminal Punishment in the South * From Slavery to Reconstruction * Redemption and the New South * Applying Theories to the Transformation of Punishment in the South * Conclusion: Nineteenth-Century Legacies
Rival Theories of the Transformation of Punishment Systems and Penal Practices * Part I: Case Study One: The Rise and Consolidation of the Penitentiary in the Northeast * From Colonies to Early Republic * Market Revolution and the Consolidation of the Penitentiary in the Northeast * Applying Theories to the Rise and Consolidation of the Penitentiary in the Northeast * Part II: Case Study Two: The Transformation of Gender Roles and the Punishment of Women Offenders in the North * Before the Civil War * The Purity Crusade, Progressivism, and the Development of Women’s Reformatories * Applying Theories to the Transformation of the Punishment of Women Offenders * Part III: Case Study Three: The Transformation of Criminal Punishment in the South * From Slavery to Reconstruction * Redemption and the New South * Applying Theories to the Transformation of Punishment in the South * Conclusion: Nineteenth-Century Legacies