This video, beginning @ approx. 18:40 discusses the implementation of the penitentiary in Britain and the British Penitentiary Act of 1779.

As the name suggests, Penitentiaries are about Penitence.

We would say the reason Penitentiaries haven’t worked is that they tend to justify inhumane treatment on moral grounds and because the primary focus has not been on SAFETY — they often don’t keep the community safe.

There have been REHABILITATION efforts of greater and lesser success for quite some time.

However, the FUNDAMENTAL problems with the flawed rationale of trying to view bad acts as isolated, one-time, intentional moral events as opposed to evidence of often complex cognitive problems — often brought on and/or exacerbated by complex societal problems — is only beginning to be fully acknowledged.

Abandoned Prison in Madrid. Photo Credit– Cristina Medrano. Click picture to go to photo & Medrano’s page on Flickr.
Bing: history penitentiary system

Bing: history penitentiary system

Nils Öberg, Director-General of Sweden’s Prison and Probation Service. Click picture to go to The Guardian’s article.