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| "Terror Behind the Walls" |
| By sjuhawknews.com |
| Published: 10/29/2009 |
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An imposing structure intended to serve as an omnipresent threat to criminals in the early 19th century, Eastern State Penitentiary remains a symbol of punishment today. The prison hosts Terror Behind the Walls, the popular Halloween season attraction hailed as one of the scariest haunted houses in the country, but a visit to Eastern State's facilities during the daytime can be just as disturbing as the nighttime horror fest. Eastern State Penitentiary holds an important place in Philadelphia and criminological history. The Quaker belief that criminals needed silence and solitude to rediscover their human nature contributed to the imprisonment style implemented at Eastern State, the first penitentiary in America. Founded on the then-progressive philosophy of confining criminals to inspire penitence, the penitentiary was meant as a correctional facility more than as just a punishment in itself. This approach to solitary imprisonment to inspire repentance soon earned its own name, the "Pennsylvania System," and competed with other philosophies and forms of incarceration, like the "New York" system exemplified by the notorious Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Read More. |
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