The ways in which organized society has dealt with criminal
offenders constitutes a long and painful chapter in the history of man.
Reference to that history need only be made in sufficient detail to demonstrate
that as unenlightened as our present penal system is today, it represents a
giant step forward from earlier societies. In primitive societies, each
individual dealt with wrongs done to him or to his family in his own way. The
victim was motivated chiefly by ideas of revenge, retaliation or compensation
for loss of property. Since in those early societies there were no
well-established rules, the strong predator very often went unpunished, and the
strong victim sometimes overreacted, resulting in a compounding of the damage.
As the primitive societies developed, the government,
represented by the chief or the king, gradually began taking over the
protection of persons and property and the punishment of offenders in the name
of public peace and order. The basic concept behind the intervention of
government, however, continued to be that of retribution – a balancing of the
scales of justice. The scales tended to be balanced on the side of the superior
power of the state. The death penalty was the most common response to common
crime. It is recorded that in London, in January 1801, a 17 year old boy was
hanged for stealing a silver spoon. During the 16th and 17th
centuries in Europe, some thirty types of death penalties were in use, ranging
from drawing and quartering to burning at the stake and breaking on the wheel.
Physical torture of all forms was common, including mutilation, such as cutting
out the tongue and burning out the eyes. Public flogging and other forms of
public degradation were commonly in use for relatively minor offenses.
Imprisonment was not looked upon as a means of punishment, but was used rather
for the purpose of guaranteeing the presence of the offender at his trial and
ultimate punishment. With a relatively small population there were eight
hundred executions in a year in England alone towards the end of the 16th
century. Then, even more than now, the recipients of these harsh punishments
were mainly the poor and the underprivileged.
Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the pilgrims in
1620, not merely out of a desire to worship as they chose, but also because of
social economic, and legal injustices
than so commonplace in England. However, strange as it may seem, the American
colonists, knowing no better way, brought with them criminal codes almost as
severe as those they had left behind.
The exception to the harsh colonial laws was the ‘Great Law’
of William Penn, embodying the comparatively humane Quaker criminal code. This
continued in force in Pennsylvania along with the other colonies, continued
under the harsh laws of the American colonies until the late 18th
century and the beginning of the new Union.
The Quakers provided the keystone around which modern penal
reform developed in America, and was accompanied by parallel developments in
England and on the Continent. Although the harsh methods of Europe are no
longer used, current penologists are beginning to feel dissatisfaction with the
dichotomy between what our prisons are
supposed to be institutions of rehabilitation, and what they all too often are,
institutions of punishment and demoralization . Many feel that the movement
away from torture and capital punishment to containment is but the first step
in effective penology.
1.
What is the main idea expressed in the passage?
A.
The passage gives an account of the use of cruel
and inhuman discipline in order to punish the offenders.
B.
The passage deals with the use of unlimited
power of the primitive government to suppress the people and gain supremacy.
C.
The passage expresses the need for a better form
of government in order to overcome the cruelties afflicted by rules in the past.
D.
The passage traces the development of a reformed
society in terms of law order.
2.
Which of the following best describes the
passage?
A.
The American
Penal Code
B.
History of Capital Punishment
C.
Rule of The kings
D.
History of Severe Penal system
3.
Which of the following statements is true about
the passage?
A.
The write says that a minority population was
subjected to execution in England.
B.
The modern American system of reformed Justice
is based on the guidelines of the Quaker law.
C.
William Penn forced the harsh colonial laws.
D.
A balance
was created by the government in delivering justice.
4.
According to the passage, what was the main
approach of the government in delivering justice in the primitive societies?
A.
The approach was reformative, and the government
wanted to introduce welfare.
B.
The approach was of greed to gain more wealth.
C.
The approach of the government was progressive
to spread prosperity.
D.
The approach of the government was harsh to give
torturous punishments.
Answer: