Chain Gangs in the US, Essay Example

The first US chain gang was formed in the state of Georgia in 1908 as a progressive penal reform movement. Two main factors led to the development of the first chain gang: the ending of the convict lease system and a need for improved transportation. Reliable road workers were hard to find and keep and proponents of the program argued a humanitarian approach. Supporters of the chain gang claimed the program was an excellent way to provide honest hard work in the fresh air and sunshine away from their prison cells for the convicts without cutting into free men’s labor. The program was largely applauded and other states were encouraged to establish chain gangs for their own state prison systems. However, the existence of the first chain gangs was cut short by economic conditions brought by the Great Depression. As jobs became scarce, able workers reversed their opinions about road work and complained that the chain gangs were taking jobs and wages away from free men. Public opinion of chain gangs also changed as more white convicts were seen chained on the roads and movies such as I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) and Cool Hand Luke (1967) showed some of the realities and abuses routinely practiced in the chain gang system. 

In 1995, four hundred convicts were gathered to work at the Limestone Correctional Facility in Alabama. Chain gangs were reestablished throughout Alabama and the states of Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, Iowa and Wisconsin quickly adopted the system. This time chain gangs for women and juveniles were also established.¹ The chain gang system has remained in place for some states, despite opponents objections on the basis of both the eighth and thirteenth amendments. While the Supreme Court has never directly ruled against the practice of chain gangs, they have ruled against several forms of prison abuse, including Alabama’s “hitching post” punishment.¹ More research is needed on the subject of chain gangs to decide if they can be instituted to serve both a reformatory and punishment purpose for convicts, while resolving past objections to the system. 

Objections to the chain gang system have included outrage over prison abuses, the loss of jobs available to the public, and concern over the allusion to slavery images of chain gangs display. Research might help the prison systems to discover how they can implement a chain gang system and have it be seen in a positive light by the public. The specific research that needs to be done concerns formatting different processes for the system and presenting these processes to the public to gauge their reaction. On the other side, research also needs to be done on the effects of chain gangs on the convicts, both during participation in the system and after release from prison. 

There are many ways that the research on chain gangs could be carried out. Basic research techniques such as flyer surveys to individual households presenting scenarios for application of the system could be used. If this were done in conjunction with advertising of the issue and the mailed surveys in local and national media it could serve very useful for gauging where the general public stands on what is considered allowable protocol for forced work programs for convicts. Public forums, such as city hall meetings, and focus study groups could also contribute to generating productive and focused conversation on the topic. In this way ideas for implementation in the system could be garnered directly from the public, helping to ensure practices that would not meet with objections. Research methods concerning the effects of chain gangs on convicts would have to be long-term. This research could be done through observational studies by neutral researchers, interviews with prison employees, and interviews with the convicts themselves. Information for research after release from prison could be obtained through regular parole interviews and further in time from voluntary participation by former chain gang members. 

Works Cited

Online Encyclopedia, Chain Gangs, 2010, http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6045/Chain-Gangs.html