Hirsch. 1992. The Rise of the Penitentiary

This
assignment consists of three short essays. I will grade each
essay on a pass/fail basis. Here is what you need to do to earn a passing grade
on each essay:
·
Write
a minimum of 500 words.
o
If
you write less than 500 words, you will automatically fail the essay.
o
500
words is about the same as one single-spaced page of text, or two double-spaced
pages of text.
o
Direct
quotations do not contribute
to the word count.
·
Each
essay should address all of the main points in the corresponding question
prompt.
·
You
must use in-text citations with corresponding page numbers.
o
Example: “Harari (2015:3) argues that humans descend from
great apes.”
§ Author last name (Harari)
§ Year of publication (published
in 2015)
§ Page number where the information comes from
(page 3)

Complete
this week’s readings in the following order. I encourage you to read one text,
then answer the accompanying essay question before turning to the next reading.
This read-write-read-write approach will make sure that the information
from each reading is fresh on your mind while you are writing.
1) Hirsch. 1992. The Rise of the
Penitentiary
·
Chapter
Two: 13-31
·
Chapter
Three: 32-46
·
Conclusion:
112-117

This
essay prompt has two parts. The first part relates back to Chapter Two (“The
Ideology of Sanction”). The second part relates back to Chapter Three (“The Sociology
of Sanction”).
Part
one:
In
Chapter Two, Hirsch reviews different perspectives on crime and punishment that
influenced the creation of the penitentiary. In particular, Hirsch describes
two paradigms, which he refers to as rehabituation
and reclamation. Select one of these paradigms and answer the
following questions:
(1) What causes crime?
(2) How should incarceration be used
to remedy this?
(3) How does “hard labor” and/or
“solitude” relate to incarceration?
Part
two:
In
Chapter Three, Hirsch argues that (1) the structure of society and (2)
punishment practices underwent dramatic changes in colonial Massachusetts
between the 17th and 18th centuries. Describe the
punishment practices and structure of society during 17th century
Massachusetts, then describe how things changed during the 18th
century.

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