Prison
A facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state.
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various crimes. They may also be used to house those awaiting trial (pre-trial detention). Prisons serve two primary functions within the criminal-justice system: holding people charged with crimes while they await trial, and confining those who have pleaded guilty or been convicted to serve out their sentences.
Quick Facts
- Setting
- Correctional facility; prison complex
- Franchise
- Tribes
- Genre
- First-person shooter
- Traversal
- Jetpack-enabled, vertical and horizontal
- Gameplay mode
- Objective-based team combat
- Visual style
- Low-poly, stylized 3D environments
Lore & Background
The use of prisons can be traced back to the rise of the state as a form of social organization. Some Ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato, began to develop ideas of using punishment to reform offenders instead of for retribution. Imprisonment as a penalty was used commonly for those who could not afford to pay their fines. The prison in ancient Athens was known as the desmoterion or 'the place of chains'. The Romans were among the first to use prisons as a form of punishment rather than simply for detention. One of the most notable Roman prisons was the Mamertine Prison, established around 640 B.C. by Ancus Marcius. In Medieval Songhai, results of a trial could have led to confiscation of merchandise or imprisonment as a form of punishment, since various prisons existed in the empire. During the Middle Ages in Europe, castles, fortresses, and the basements of public buildings were often used as makeshift prisons. The French philosopher Michel Foucault, especially his book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975), energized the historical study of prisons and their role in the overall social system.
Reader's Guide
Prisons can also be used as a tool for political repression by authoritarian regimes who detain perceived opponents for political crimes, often without a fair trial or due process; this use is illegal under most forms of international law governing fair administration of justice. In times of war, belligerents or neutral countries may detain prisoners of war or detainees in military prisons or in prisoner-of-war camps. At any time, states may imprison civilians – sometimes large groups of civilians – in internment camps. Terminology used to describe or distinguish between prisons and other correctional facilities can vary between nations and jurisdictions. For example, in Australia, the words 'gaol', 'jail' and 'prison' are commonly used. In Canada, while the terms 'jail' and 'prison' are commonly used in speech, officially named facilities use 'facility', 'correctional centre', 'penitentiary', or 'institution'. In New Zealand, the terms 'jail' and 'prison' are commonly used, although the term 'correctional facility', among others, are in official usage. In Papua New Guinea, 'prison' is officially used, although 'jail' is widely understood and more common in use. In the UK and Ireland, the official modern term is 'prison'. In American English, the terms 'prison' and 'jail' have separate uses: a 'jail' holds people for shorter periods of time or for pre-trial detention and is usually operated by a local government; a 'prison' or 'penitentiary' holds people for longer periods of time and is operated by a state or federal government.
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