According to Morris and Rothman, an ideal prison should have four fundamental purposes. The first is "Incapacitation", which means that offenders between walls cannot damage the people outside. The Second, "Deterrence", means that the fear of being imprisoned deters some people who have a tendency to commit a crime. Then comes "Retribution or Expiation" which can be defined in terms of ethics: The criminal should be punished so that he will understand the victim's situation and that forms the concept of justice. But in addition, a prison is reformative as well because prisons should be educational and socially adaptive (2, 3). Lynds" operation, however, did not include any reformation. Briefly, his ideology was neither realistic nor ideal, despite of the point of view in 19th century. .
Almost simultaneously with the turn of the century, the prison system began to be modernized with an incredible speed. Thomas Mott Osborne, who was the son of a wealthy family and well educated, was appointed warden of Sing Sing in late 1914. His opinions for providing discipline were completely contrary to Lynds". Through a special arrangement, Osborne had spent a week as a prisoner in Auborn Prison and that week helped him to form his ideas. He became famous by saying "It is liberty alone that fits men for liberty" (Conover 20) and installing a Mutual Welfare League whereby prisoners were to assume a portion of their own government in the institution. Osborne contended that self government was the practical remedy of the prison system. He always stressed the need to educate rather than punish prisoners. So, reformation appeared here as a purpose of prison and set up a bridge to the modern era of prisons.
Osborne really had progressive opinions, but he was unrealistic for early 1900s. His career in Sing Sing ended because of being charged with indulging the inmates. According to Republican governor, he allowed the inmates to increase their voice too much.
