ABSTRACT
The rise of the prison As we saw in Chapter 2, something akin to imprisonment can be found as far back as the thirteenth century. However, according to many historians, prison as we now understand it has only been around for something like three centuries (during which time it has changed markedly in its style and function). From the early 1700s a system of houses of correction or bridewells existed (McGowen, 1995), being used primarily for vagrants and drunks. However, for much of the eighteenth century, and well into the nineteenth, there remained considerable resistance to the idea of imprisonment as a standard, frequently used form of punishment.
