1

Welfare Of Prisoners as a Vulnerable Group

 2

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Characteristics of Prisoners.............................................................................................................4
Broken Homes.............................................................................................................................4
Abuse as a Child..........................................................................................................................4
Treatment Of Prisoners....................................................................................................................5
Transportation..............................................................................................................................5
Separate System...........................................................................................................................5
Silent System...............................................................................................................................5
Beccaria’s Input...............................................................................................................................6
Philosophy of Punishment...........................................................................................................6
Criminology as a Spectacle.............................................................................................................7
Death Penalty...................................................................................................................................8
Prison as a Total Institution by Erving Goffman.............................................................................8
Paul-Michel Foucault's Perspective on Punishment........................................................................9
Power and Surveillance...............................................................................................................9
Structure of Strangeways Prison (Manchester).............................................................................10
Strangeways Prison After 1994.................................................................................................10
Austerity Effects on Prison Fund...................................................................................................10
The Use of the Beccaria System in Today’s World......................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13
 3

Introduction
1837-1901 was the Victorian period, Victorians evacuated rural areas for urban industrial
jobs, causing a population boom. One family shared a toilet and water faucet with the
neighbourhood. The huge wealth gaps. Penny fears crooks. These stories detail horrible acts.
Like adults, children were punished. In 1829, Sir Robert Peel established the city's first police
force. Several localities formed police units in the ensuing decade. Unpaid cops walked a "beat."
Batons and rattles rang the alarm. The new police force seemed suspicious (Johnston 2019).
After lowering crime, cops gained respect. During this time, prisons were the main means of
punishment.

Disgusting enclaves, as inmates did hard labour in 1857 it was legalised. Before being
sent to jail or court, offenders were typically held on prison ships in the harbour. Forced labour
was common. Victorians believed that hard-working criminals wouldn't re-offend. Prisoners may
turn a manual crank 10,000 times daily. Hours-long circular treadmills. First youth prisons began
in 1854. Other punishments were applied besides death and conscription. Daily cleaning of
tarred ship's rope in prison. "Money for old rope" refers to prisons selling rope. Inmate cells
often had a crank (a sort of handle). 20,000/min, 10,000/d (Vicente-Alcalde et al. 2020). Guards
tightened a screw to make cranking harder. This made them "screws."

Modern corrections began in the late 1800s, prisons should concentrate on rehabilitation,
not punishment. Reform resulted from recognising that teens should be treated individually.
1908's Crime Prevention Act introduced juvenile borstals. The 1948 Criminal Justice Act banned
forced labour, whipping, and slavery. The U.S. has built more prisons since WWII. 1908 had the
most prisoners, 22,000. 1988 had 50,000 prisoners (MacPherson 2022). Despite a reduction in
the early 1990s, 90,000 are in jail. Inmates are seven times greater than in 1940. Since the early
1990s, prison populations have climbed despite few new convictions.

Since 1993, mandatory life sentences for specific sexual and violent offences and short
jail terms for 'anti-social' crimes have modified sentencing dramatically. Even in times of acute
prison capacity demand, governments have found it politically difficult to lower the number of
convicts (a 2007-2010 early release scheme) (Turner et al. 2018). In 1908, most women in jail
were for prostitution or suffrage. Holloway Prison became all-female in 1903, attracting many
 4

female inmates. Since the late 1940s, female inmates have climbed from 2.5% to 6.1%. 5% of
women are incarcerated since 2002.

Characteristics of Prisoners
Broken Homes

Inmates are among the world's most damaged and unstable. Most offenders have received
excessive or insufficient punishment, come from broken families, and lack confidence. They're
self-aware and in conflict with society. Most prison convicts weren't taught moral values or how
to act properly. Beyond incarceration, we must help offenders' rehabilitation. 70% of the 600,000
inmates freed annually are re-arrested within three years (Kougiali et al. 2019). Despite the many
rehabilitation programmes, their costs, designs, and aims, we seldom hear about their successes.
When portrayed in terms of expected goals, not actual outcomes, the public regards these
programmes as positive. In the few programmes with favourable results, recidivism dropped by
10%. (Cullen). We could do better, say many. Most English prisons lack the resources and
programmes needed to rehabilitate prisoners. They return to crime within weeks after release
(New). Correctional facilities and programmes may be improved. Since the 1970s, these
programmes have changed from "punishment" to "rehabilitation" or "treatment" (Alizamar et al.
2018). Rehabilitation contrasts with punishment, which suggests the perpetrator is at fault and
implies a cure. Despite a dramatic decline in the number of juveniles incarcerated, the number of
youths physically assaulted by prison personnel has climbed. In 2013-14, there were 1,157
juvenile offenders in custody; in 2018-19, there are just 832, a decrease of 28 percent (Bowler,
Phillips & Rees 2018). The experts hypothesised that the increase was partially attributable to
increased prison staff reporting of major incidents; however, they added that such a significant
increase was likely due to a lack of funding in the juvenile detention sector and a failure to adopt
a "child-focused" strategy towards young offenders. Approximately 359 violent episodes,
including 115 in September alone (Innes 2020), were reported in the past six months, according
to the study, and staff continued to utilise tactics that caused children pain during physical

restraint; seven such incidences had occurred since January.

 5

Treatment Of Prisoners
Transportation
Under the royal prerogative of compassion and English law, felons might be transported.
It was employed to punish minor crimes. Further offences in 1670 made transportation
practicable. In the 1820s, forgery went from death to transportation. Life or a specified number
of years, depending on the offence. If the sentence was lengthy, the offender was liable for
transportation. Many offenders worked as jailers or other colony employees as free persons.
England transferred criminals, political prisoners, and Scottish and Irish prisoners of war to the
Americas from the 1610s through 1776 (Maxwell-Stewart 2022). Scotland required the practise
in 1785, albeit it was rare. From 1787 to 1868, large-scale transportation continued. Before 1707,
Scotland's Transportation Act restricted travel. 1785's Transportation Act encouraged to travel to
Scotland. Early 19th-century Scots Law seldom used it.

Separate System
The 1839 Prison Act introduced the new system. The centre helped offenders analyse
their wrongdoings and rebuild their moral character using Christian teachings. By separating
convicts, the method worked. Prisoners couldn't verify their identities. Only numbers, no names.
Even the guards didn't know their identities or charges. As punishment, they were confined to
their cells and couldn't contact anybody outside. The only foreigner was the chaplain, who
encouraged a Christ-like lifestyle. Only religious sessions and exercise were permitted. When
leaving their cells, they wore masks and felt shoes to avoid being seen or heard by other inmates.
They usually escaped using a notched rope, preventing them from conversing with other
prisoners (Chester 2018). Since they were in separate stalls, they couldn't see or converse in
church. The system failed as expected. Pentonville Prison, the worst, had three suicides.

Silent System
The main difference between the quiet system and the separate system was that under the
quiet system, the inmates were not separated but rather kept in total stillness. They were thus not
forced to wear masks or be detained in cells. For instance, they were forced to walk on a
 6

treadwheel or turn a crank for meaningless labour. Similarly, it was thought that by forcing the
inmates to live in this way, they would become more self-aware and amenable to reform. Suicide
and mental health concerns were also the outcomes of the breakdown of the silent system
(Surmon-Böhr et al. 2020).

Beccaria’s Input
Beccaria's summary of crimes and punishments is as follows: "For any punishment not to
be an act of violence committed by one or more individuals against a private citizen, it must be
public, prompt, necessary, the minimum possible under the circumstances, proportional to the
crimes, and established by law." Beccaria argues that the goal of punishment is to deter future
offenders from committing the same crime as the one being punished. To be effective, the
severity of punishment should be based primarily on the harm the crime has caused, rather than
on the criminal's motivations, and it should not be excessive in order to dissuade future
offenders. (Barone et al. 2021). Because of his belief that torture should never be used as a
technique of interrogation against suspects who have not been proven guilty, Beccaria reject the
death sentence. Exile and imprisonment are other possible penalties. Consideration is given to
the severity and punishment of certain sorts of transgressions (Rohatgi, Shrivastava & Singla
2022).

Philosophy of Punishment
At the age of 26, Beccaria wrote his most famous article, "On Crimes and Punishments,"
in 1764. The character of the criminal justice system was criticised in his paper for being
capricious and brutal. The severity of punishments, the prevalence of torture, the prevalence of
corruption, the secrecy of accusations and trials, and the arbitrariness with which sentences were
imposed were all egregious. There was no such thing as equal treatment within the law. Those
with higher social status were also treated differently than those with lower social status.
Beccaria's views contradicted both traditional practises. In addition, I will discuss some of the
essential ideas that underpin his work (Lonati 2019).
 7

Punishment Is Only a Matter for The Courts: Beccaria says only the law can punish.
Legislators define crime and impose penalties. Judges and magistrates can't impose penalties if
the legislature hasn't. A court cannot ignore statutory constraints on the criminal penalty. Judges
must follow the law (Redo 2021).

Law And the Enforcement of It Should Be Made More Accessible to The General Public:
Beccaria supports making law and police public. Laws and trials should be publicly accessible.
Only present observers may determine trial fairness (Bessler 2019).

The Penalties Imposed Should Be Equitable, Clear, And Timely: Beccaria said harsh
sentences shouldn't be used if they don't deter crime. The severity of the crime should determine
punishment. Beccaria said punishment is meant to deter criminals and others from committing
the same act again. Beccaria thought rapid, definite sanctions were needed. If criminals knew
they'd be punished fast, he said, they'd commit fewer crimes (Innes 2020).

Criminology as a Spectacle
Almost every aspect of human life may now be recorded, watched, and analysed in a
world dominated by media spectacle. In a media-saturated society, when the media can make the
mundane both visible and exciting, how have criminal justice, crime, and death risen to the
forefront? With this book, Smith introduces the term "Spectacular Justice," which he coined
during his doctoral study to describe how the media portrays the institutions of justice and the
public sentiments of justice such as wrath and grief (McClanahan 2021). In order to help the
reader better understand the public's image of law enforcement, media archives are used to
construct a conceptual toolbox. Through the perspectives of three primary characters (Victim,
Perp, and Expert), Smith analyses the cases of Charles Lindbergh Jr., James Bulger, Jodi Arias
and Anders Breivik, and investigates how human narratives contribute to the case's significance
and the spread of judicial spectacles (Ruggiero et al. 2022).
 8

Death Penalty
Once, unemployment was punished with the death sentence. In 16th-century England,
vagrants and the unemployed were both called "sturdy beggars" In 1547, a statute killed
vagrants. Henry VIII reportedly killed 72,000 individuals. Sir Samuel Romilly told the House of
Commons in 1810 that no other country had as many death-penalty offences as England. Under
the "Bloody Code," 220 offences were punishable by death, including "living with Gypsies for a
month," "malice in a 7–14-year-old," and "blacking the face or adopting a mask while
committing a crime" (Nargundkar 2019). In the early 18th century, upper-class riches were
protected by Whig Oligarchy laws like the Black Act of 1723, which enforced 50 death penalties
for stealing and poaching. Shoplifting and animal theft might have resulted in the death penalty
before 1832. A death penalty historian stated that English law prescribed the death penalty for
crimes as petty as stealing 12 pence (Sato 2019). Death sentences may be mitigated or forgiven
due to clergy, government pardons, pregnancy, or military or navy service. In England and
Wales, 7,000 of 35,000 death sentences were carried out between 1770 and 1830.

Prison as a Total Institution by Erving Goffman

Many persons who have been secluded from society live and work in a "full institution."
Erving Goffman created the phrase. In one institution, officials control many people's
fundamental necessities. Impersonal, bureaucratic solutions exist. The major goal of
concentration camps, prison camps, penitentiaries, and prisons were to safeguard the greater
community from perceived purposeful hazards. All institutions aim to reserialise people by
controlling their surroundings (Ellis 2021). This includes reintegration into civilian life and
training new soldiers. Reintegration involves two steps. First, the staff tries to undermine
residents' self-esteem and independence. Resocialization involves developing a new personality
or sense of self. Usually, incentives and penalties are used. Reading, watching TV, and making
phone calls may persuade people of all ages to comply. Conformity is adapting one's behaviour
to a superior's or a group's expectations (Kõvamees 2020).
 9

Paul-Michel Foucault's Perspective on Punishment

A history of all the many disciplinary institutions, with all their peculiarities, is
impossible under this situation. Real-world scenarios will be used to demonstrate some of the
most easily transmittable tactics. It was significant because it constituted a "new micro-physics"
of political involvement in the body and because, from the seventeenth century, it had
continuously expanded to ever greater realms, as though it aimed to include the whole social
body. These were usually precise and frequently minute procedures, but they had value (Gregg et
al. 2021).

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, small acts of cunning with immense
dispersion power, delicate arrangements that seemed benign but were very dubious, systems that
followed economics too humiliating to confess or pursued minor types of coercion were
responsible for the change of the criminal system. system. Actions taken in the name of cunning
are known as "malevolence," a term that refers to a more focused kind of "malevolence" that
holds everything accountable even when it is asleep. Anatomy of the political system is a
rigorous academic study (Bowden 2020).

Power and Surveillance

Foucault may use the Panopticon as a metaphor to analyse social control systems,
authority, power, and knowledge. Observation gives strength and wisdom. Every action and
occurrence were documented. Fear of penalty and regulatory compliance arise from surveillance.
Panoptic discipline and population-wide acknowledgment of this reality is the best way to
promote proper behaviour. The more one observes the more powerful one becomes. In a cyclical
fashion, knowledge and power support one other, with deed observations providing power.
When integrated and generalised, knowledge and power "reinforce each other in a cyclical
process," according to Foucault. (1977) (Topuzkanamis 2019). Since people are "carefully made"
in the social order, Foucault argued the actual risk was power penetrating individual behaviour
(Foucault, 1977). "New objects of knowledge over all surfaces where electricity is applied"
increase with power efficiency.
 10

Structure of Strangeways Prison (Manchester)

The Grade II-listed prison was built in 1869 to replace Salford's New Bailey Jail, which
closed in 1868. Alfred Waterhouse and Joshua Jebb designed the 1862 jail, which cost £175,000
($16,876,769 in 2021) and held 1,000 inmates. The 71-meter ventilation tower is a
neighbourhood landmark (frequently mistaken for an observation tower) (Buck & Tomczak
2022). Both inside and outside, the prison's 16-foot walls are impregnable. Separate system
pieces make up the prison's star- or snowflake-shaped design, which includes a ventilation tower.
The facility's central core has two radial blocks with 10 wings (A, B, C, D, E, and F in one block,
and G, H, I, and K in the second). From Strangeways Park and Gardens, the jail gets its name. In
1322, Strangeways meant "near a creek with a strong current" in Anglo-Saxon. The prison
accepted male and female offenders until 1963 and remanded criminals in 1980 (Benfey 2019).
In 2005, the jail held 1,200 prisoners.

Strangeways Prison After 1994

A secure jail. It could hold 1,269 adult males as of August 4, 2008. Two bids to manage
the plant were made from 1994 to 2001. Nine wings comprise each radial block. Single and
double cubicles have power outlets and sanitary amenities. Since 1994, the prison's suicide rate
has been high. Strangeways Prison had the second-most suicides from 1993 to 2003 and the most
after 2004 (Roberts 2018). Manchester College offers academic and practical programmes. This
institution provides IT, ESOL, maths, industrial cleaning, bricklaying, painting, plastering,
textiles, and laundry courses. The prison gym includes PE classes, sports, and fitness
programmes. The Daily Telegraph reported in 2015 that drones were used to carry narcotics and
phones to prisons (Shebek et al. 2021).

Austerity Effects on Prison Fund

Prisons have high-morbidity populations. Austerity measures in the UK have cut prison
expenditure by 22% since 2010 (-2.71 billion pounds). (-1.71 Bl) (Ismail 2020). The long-term
impact of austerity on English jails has not been examined despite a 30% drop in personnel. This
policymaker-focused research examines austerity's impact on prison health in England. 30 semi-
 11

structured prison policymaker interviews (X: 66 minutes) (Lisney 2019). The impact of austerity
on English prisoner health was studied using constructivism-informed grounded theory. 195,680
narrative text transcripts were analysed. Austerity has affected society and prisons.
Inaccessibility to welfare state services, notably health care, promotes social unrest, prison
populations, and harsher penalties. Insufficient resources and an increasing prison population
cause health inequity. Seniors and women convicts have fewer healthcare alternatives, which
damages them. Poor living conditions and a lack of meaningful activities enhance jail violence,
self-harm, and suicides, leading to more emergency treatment. Brexit and prison unrest have
created volatility (Bain 2019). England's poor suffer from austerity. England may remain
progressive by improving its economic recovery strategy and researching jail alternatives.

The Use of the Beccaria System in Today’s World

Beccaria's beliefs are no longer controversial, although they were at the time since they
criticised the whole criminal justice system. It was first written anonymously because Beccaria
did not believe it prudent to publicise such radical opinions. This notion was confirmed when the
Catholic Church put the book on its "blacklist" for two centuries. Even though his opinions were
contentious at the time, his piece was an enormous success (Malkani 2018). Consequently, all
existing criminal justice systems are founded on the beliefs of Cesare Beccaria, and there is
substantial evidence that his essay influenced the American and French revolutions. Although
Beccaria's ideas were not original, he was the first to present them consistently, making them
more accessible to the general audience. His essay was a big success because many individuals
were prepared to implement the adjustments, he suggested (Beccaria & Rolando 2019).

Conclusion
This paper contains a discussion on the Victorian-era jail system, including how inmates
were treated and how the system evolved throughout history, as well as how it is portrayed in
this article. In addition to this, an in-depth analysis of the opinions held by philosophers such as
Beccaria, Foucault, and Goffman about the treatment of inmates and the prison system is also
provided. The structure of the Strangeways Jail (Manchester) has also been explored, in addition
 12

to how the jail has changed throughout its history and the modifications that have been made to
the architecture of the structure. Both topics have been covered in the previous paragraphs. In
addition to this, a general summary of the austerity measures and how they have affected the
financing of the penal system across the United Kingdom is presented as well. This is offered as
a supplementary component for consideration.
 13

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