Auburn system
The Auburn system is a prison design model that emerged in the early nineteenth century in Auburn, New York, as part of the penitentiary movement aimed at reforming offenders. Unlike the Pennsylvania system, which emphasized solitary confinement, the Auburn system allowed inmates to sleep in individual cells while dining and working in communal settings under a strict silence rule. This design minimized construction and operational costs by facilitating the efficient use of space and labor. The first prisons built under this system were Auburn and Sing Sing, both opening in the 1820s, and the model significantly influenced prison architecture across the United States for decades to come. While intended to rehabilitate inmates and enhance their labor potential, the system has faced criticism for issues such as overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and the practice of corporal punishment. Despite these challenges, the Auburn system aimed to create a deterrent environment through its imposing structures. The legacy of this design continues to provoke discussions about the effectiveness of prison reform and the treatment of incarcerated individuals.
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Auburn system
IDENTIFICATION: Prison-design plan developed and implemented during the penitentiary movement of the early nineteenth century
PLACE: Auburn, New York
SIGNIFICANCE: The Auburn system of prison design was the architectural plan for the first large-scale prison built to maximize the rehabilitation and the labor potential of incarcerated offenders, while reducing construction and operating costs. Even though this model of incarceration was the key mechanism implemented to reform offenders during the penitentiary movement, it has been noted, even since its inception, for pervasive offender abuse and prison overcrowding.
At the turn of the nineteenth century, Americans pushing for prison reform embraced the ideals and promises of the penitentiary. In essence, the penitentiary’s purpose was to rehabilitate the offender through silent reflection and penance. Initially, penitentiary design followed the model of the Pennsylvania system plan, wherein individual offenders were housed in solitary cells at all times. However, that prison and jail system was too expensive to build and manage, as considerable land was needed to erect the large structures, and exceptional numbers of qualified staff were required for inmate surveillance and control. The Auburn system was thus developed and implemented to counter the negative reality of the Pennsylvania system design.
The Auburn system penitentiary called for offenders to sleep in small, individual cells, yet dine and work silently in common areas. Hence, this design and its inherent regimes were often referred to as the congregate system. The first two penitentiaries built according to this plan were New York’s Auburn and Sing Sing prisons, both which opened during the 1820s.
Cells in Auburn-style facilities were positioned back-to-back and stacked in tiers within hollow buildings. The ideal of the Auburn-style prison was maximization of the rehabilitation and labor potential of offenders. This ideal of the Auburn design was so widely embraced, it influenced prison construction throughout the United States during the remainder of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. In fact, Sing Sing prison remains in use today.
Auburn-style facilities were often built to be large, foreboding structures, in the hope that the very essence of the prisons would serve as a deterrent to potential offenders. Nevertheless, penologists have questioned the rehabilitative and deterrent value of the Auburn system design, as offender recidivism, unsanitary conditions, and corporal punishment have been the reality in many facilities built according to the design plan of the Auburn system.
Bibliography
Blomberg, Thomas G., and Karol Lucken. American Penology. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 2000. Print.
Johnston, Norman. The Human Cage: A Brief History of Prison Architecture. New York: Walker, 1973. Print.
Kammen, Carol. "Silence and Solitude in Auburn Prison's Early Years." Ithaca Journal, 1 June 2017, www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/local/2017/06/01/silence-and-solitude-auburn-prisons-early-years/362603001/. Accessed 20 june 2024.
Neal, Charles. "Were Early American Prisons Similar to Today's?" JSTOR, 19 Jan. 2022, daily.jstor.org/were-early-american-prisons-similar-to-todays/. Accessed 20 June 2024.
Pollock, Joycelyn M. Prisons and Prison Life: Costs and Consequences. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. Print.
Waid, Courtney A., and Carl B. Clements. “Correctional Facility Design: Past, Present and Future.” Corrections Compendium 26.11 (2001). Print.