INSTITUTIONAL BASED CORRECTION
MODULE 1
Module 1
(March 2022)
Lesson 1: Discuss the global view on prison administration, Prison: Antiquity to Modernity,
The influence of the Roman Catholic Church: Pope John Paul-the prolife pope,
Walnut Street Jail, King Henry VIII, and King Edward VI-A jewel of King Henry
VIII
Discussion:
In 2018, the Philippines held the sixth-highest prison population out of 21 Asian
countries. As of 2019, the Philippines’ population rested at 108.31 million people, and 215,000
of those people were incarcerated. Therefore, the Philippines has an incarceration rate of about
200 per 100,000 citizens. There are 933 prisons running in the Philippines. Unfortunately, they
are mismanaged and overcrowded. Below are five important facts about the incarceration system
in the Philippines.
5 Facts About the Philippines’ Incarceration System
1. Severe overcrowding
Rodrigo Duterte won the presidential election in 2016. He promised to end crime
within six months. This promise also included the killing of 10s of thousands of
criminals. Duterte’s election led to the infamous war on drugs and
eventually, overcrowded prisons. Manila City Jail, the largest jail in the
Philippines, is split into dorms that safely house 170 inmates. Currently, these
dorms house around 500 people. Similarly, a room designated for 30 people holds
about 130 in the Quezon City Jail. This severe overcrowding in prisons leads to
illness and death tolls in the thousands.
2. Pre-trial detainees
According to The World Prison Brief, 75.1% of incarcerations within the
Philippines’ incarceration system are pre-trial. In 2018, 141,422 of 188,278
prisoners were pre-trial detainees. Unfortunately, many people are serving
sentences without conviction. Pre-trial detention is found in judicial systems all
over the world. In countries like the Philippines, people may serve time that
outweighs their crimes. On average, prisoners in the Philippines are detained
for nine months without being sentenced.
3. High death tolls
About 5,200 inmates die annually at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP). According to
Ernesto Tamayo, the hospital medical chief, these deaths are due to overcrowding,
dirty living conditions and inmate violence. At a 2019 Philippines Senate hearing,
Tamayo said that there were “uncontrollable outbreaks of pulmonary
tuberculosis.” In addition to overcrowding, poor living conditions and inmate
violence, NBP lacks nutritional food and basic healthcare. On account of these
living conditions, Tamayo reports that at least one prisoner dies at NBP each day.
Thankfully, politicians and prison employees are working to reduce overcrowding
in the Philippines’ prisons. Human rights advocates have also called for the
release of vulnerable inmates, hoping to protect them from poor living conditions.
4. Vigilante justice
Duterte’s war on drugs escalated during his presidency. Jobless citizens were
recruited to kill anyone suspected of dealing, buying or using drugs. This was one
of few ways for some people to make money; many homeless and impoverished
people joined the vigilante teams. In 2016, Duterte told the public, “If you know
of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself.” Together, the Philippines’ police
force and unidentified gunmen have killed 7,000 known drug dealers and users
since Duterte’s presidency in 2016. The Philippines’ war on drugs has created the
belief that extrajudicial violence and murder are necessary to fight crime. But the
Human Rights Watch has turned the narrative around on Duterte; they are
publicizing information about the vigilante justice in the Philippines.
5. Corruption
In August 2018, the public learned a former mayor may have been released from
prison for good behavior. He was originally charged for rape and homicide in
1993. Similar stories of corruption in the Philippines’ prisons continued to
emerge. In September 2018, the public learned that a woman was told her
husband’s sentence would be shortened if she paid 50,000 pesos ($970). Later that
year, senators stated that inmates could “live like kings” for a fee. This
information led to further allegations: prison workers and officials were taking
bribes to bring and distribute contraband to inmates. The contraband in question
included cigarettes, cellphones and televisions. Supposedly, inmates can also pay
for personal cooks and nurses. Inmates who cannot afford a better life within the
prison are stuck in overcrowded and dirty rooms; these inmates have a higher rate
of becoming ill and of death. Now that the corruption has been unearthed,
officials are taking steps to weed it out, one prison at a time.
The earliest records of prisons come from the 1st millennia BC, located on the areas of
mighty ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. During those times, prisons were almost
always stationed in the underground dungeons where guilty or suspected criminals spent their
life either awaiting death sentence, or a command to become slaves (often working as galley
slaves). Exception from that rule comes from the home of modern democracy - Greece. There,
prisoners were held in the poorly isolated buildings where they could often be visited by their
friends and family. Primary source of their detention were not dungeons, high walls or bars, but
simple wooden blocks that were attached to their feet. Ancient Roman Empire however
continued to use harsher methods. Their prisons were built almost exclusively underground, with
tight and claustrophobic passageways and cells. Prisoners themselves were held either in simple
cells or chained to the walls, for life or for time. As slavery was accepted norm in those days,
majority of prisoners that were not sentenced to death were sold as slaves or used by the Roman
government as workforce. One of the most famous uses for the slaves in Roman Empire was as
"gladiators". In addition to fighting in the arena (sometimes after lifetime of training in the
special gladiator training houses, or Luduses), many slaves were tasked as a support workforce
that enabled smoother run of the popular gladiator business. The most famous Gladiator
battleground, the mighty Colosseum Arena in Rome had a slave army of 224 slaves that worked
daily as a power source of the complicated network of 24 elevators that transported gladiators
and their wild animal opponents from the underground dungeons to the arena floor.
The conditions in the European prisons remained harsh until English royalty started being
more involved with their justice system. Henry II commissioned the construction of first prison
in 1166, together with the first draft of English legal system that used concept of jury. One of the
most historic prison legislations was introduced in 1215, when King John signed Magna
Carta which stated that no man could be imprisoned without trial. With the rise of the industry
between 16 and 18th century English prisons became overcrowded, and new penal measures
started being implemented - military pardon and penal transportations (during the end of 18th
century, over 50 thousand prisoners were transported from England to penal colonies in North
America and Australia). France even continued their practice of penal colonies until the middle
of 20th century (most notably in French Guiana and its infamous prison Devil's Island), and
Russia also used remote penal colonies in the frozen north-east Siberia.
The age of modern prisons that we know today started with the several prison reforms in
19th century England. During that time prisoners started receiving more care, concept of
rehabilitation was introduced and governments around the world (especially in UK and US)
started reconsidering their views on solitary confinement (which was primary source of the
increased numbers of insane, suicidal and catatonic prisoners). Wars that engulfed the world in
the beginning of 20th century brought the formation of large amounts of war prison
camps and concentration camps. Most famous examples of those types of prisons happened
during World War 2, when Nazi government formed over 300 detention centers in which
political opponents, Jews, gypsies, criminals and others were detained without judicial process.
Majority of them was eventually killed on an unprecedented massive scale that is today
estimated to be between 11 and 17 million people.
During the end of 20th century, modern prison system was finalized. Concept of
"Probation Service" was introduced in 1991, and three years before that first prison intended
solely for the holding of inmates in permanent isolation was formed. Those "supermax" prisons
became widespread across the entire United States, with over 40 of them being active in the year
2005. Inmates in those prisons are held in the 23h long periods of cell isolation, with occasional
communal yard time, work, educational programs and meals in cafeteria. As of 2006, it is
estimated that over 9 million people are imprisoned worldwide with United States leading in the
rate of incarceration (743 per 100.000 people).
Different Types of Prisons (Antiquity Times)
Religion’s role in prison
Religions value in prison is often about its contribution to the individual growth or
development of a particular inmate. The focus is to perceived role of religion in helping lower
the chances of recidivism among inmates. Other reasons, it focuses on the immediate value that
religions have for inmates through their help in their coping and survival.
The influence and practice of religion in the correctional setting is as old as the history of
prisons. Initial entry of religion into prison was probably carried out by religious men who
themselves were imprisoned. The Bible stories of such prisoners include Joseph and Jeremiah in
the Old Testament, and John the Baptist, Peter, John, and Paul in the New
Testament. Beginning in the days of Constantine, the early Christian Church granted asylum to
criminals who would otherwise have been mutilated or killed. Although this custom was
restricted in most countries by the fifteenth century, releasing prisoners during Eastertime, and
requests by Church authorities to pardon or reduce sentences for offenders, remained for
centuries with the latter still in existence in a modified form.
Imprisonment under church jurisdiction became a substitute for corporal or capital
punishment. In medieval times, the Roman Catholic Church developed penal techniques later
used by secular states such as the monastic cell that served as a punishment place for criminal
offenders. In 1593 the Protestants of Amsterdam built a house of correction for women, and one
for men in 1603. In Rome, what are now the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, built correctional
facilities for women, and in 1703 Pope Clement XI built the famous Michel Prison as a house of
correction for younger offenders with separation, silence, work, and prayer emphasized. As late
as the 18th century, the Vatican Prison still served as a model prison design for Europe and
America.
Early settlers of North America brought with them the customs and common laws of
England including the pillory, the stocks and the whipping post. During the 18th century
isolating offenders from fellow prisoners became the accepted correctional practice. It was
thought that long-term isolation, combined with in-depth discussions with clergy, would lead
inmates to repent or become “penitent”—sorry for their sins. Thus, the term "penitentiary" was
derived. West Jersey and Pennsylvania Quakers were primarily responsible for many of the
prison reforms. They developed the idea of substituting imprisonment for corporal punishment
and combining the idea of the prison with the workhouse. The prototype of this regime was the
Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia that in style reflected the Quakers’ belief in man’s ability to
reform through reflection and remorse.
Even during the 19th century when daytime work was initiated by the Auburn System,
solitary confinement at night was still the norm in correctional practice. The forced solitary
confinement was thought to serve the same repenting purpose as the older penitentiary. Belief in
education as a tool for reducing criminal activity also assisted in the growth of religion in
prison. Because of the limited budgets of correctional institutions, Chaplains were often called
upon to be the sole educator in many American prisons. The "schooling" often consisted of the
chaplain standing in a dark corridor with a lantern hanging from the cell bars while extolling the
virtues of repentance.
Volunteers also have a long history in corrections that can be traced back to the beginning
of prisons. In the last 200 years many religious groups have entered correctional facilities to
provide religious services to inmates. One of the most famous advocates for volunteers in
corrections was Maud Ballington Booth, the daughter-in-law of William Booth who founded the
Salvation Army. Today, volunteers are vital to religious programs and without them inmate
participation would surely be limited. Faith representatives would be unable to minister to the
large number and variety of inmates.
Many older correctional institutions are being refurbished or destroyed; replaced with
facilities designed for better observation and security. Yet the initial influence of religion on the
philosophy and the design of the penitentiary will surely remain in correctional history.
