What are the origins of inmate labor?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The origin of labor in prisons can be traced back to English jails of the 11th and 13th centuries, when inmate labor paid for the costs of imprisonment as well as the salaries of the jailers and the sheriff. During the 1300s, hard labor was considered part of one’s payment for keep and was the mainstay activity in workhouses of that time. The emphasis on work continued throughout history, but the types of work usually did not compete with free labor outside the prison walls. During the mid- to late 1700s, prison reformers such as John Howard and Cesare Beccaria considered inmate labor a key factor in the reformation of offenders. Unlike discussions on inmate labor in prior chapters, this chapter will focus on a more modern history of inmate labor, and we will center our discussion on the federal system. The primary reason for this is that it has a defined history that is far-reaching and at its base contains all the elements of historical development that are common to most of the state systems. However, the federal system is not given to the peculiarities of history and geography that have defined various state prison systems, such as those in the southern United States that relied largely on agricultural operations.