The Definition of Prison

The dictionary definition of prison is as follows. "A building for confinementof persons sentenced or awaiting trial for crime; a place of captivity". However, this is not necessarily true. In times as close as the 19th century,people were sent to workhouses just because they were orphans. Even today, thementally ill are sent to a kind of prison against their will.A better definition for prison would be "A place of confinement for persons labeled as unfit to live in normal society", because the mentally ill aren'tnecessarily committing a crime. However, if you want to be very anal retentiveabout it, you could say that the dog pound is a form of prison. Even a birdcageis a kind of prison for birds; they are confined to the cage after all.

This is an informative page on the history of prison systems. Included in it will be a history of the system itself, and the conditions that the people had to live in.

This page was written as a project for the elementary school King Edward P.S. in Toronto. It was completed by four students there. We can all be contacted through the Contact page.

Included in the links will be links to serveral places that have information on the prison system. Including the dickens project.