Dissertation Defense Schedule
Academic Excellence
Sharing original dissertation research is a principle to which the University of Delaware is deeply committed. It is the single most important assignment our graduate students undertake and upon completion is met with great pride.
We invite you to celebrate this milestone by attending their dissertation defense. Please review the upcoming dissertation defense schedule below and join us!
PROGRAM | History
“Making Prison Labor Work: Capitalism and Control in America’s Prisons, 1727-1935”
By: Michael Forino Chair: Arwen Mohun
ABSTRACT
Why do prisoners work in America? Prison labor in the United States has developed, survived, and thrived because reformers, politicians, and prison administrators have used it as a principal tool for institutional financial sustainability, reform, and prisoner control The concept of imprisonment and, by extension, prison labor, emerged in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Political and community leaders introduced it to manage the unpredictability of nascent industrialization and urbanization. Initially, prison labor was a means to curb the escalating costs of incarceration, but it soon intertwined with religious and social beliefs about productivity and industriousness. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, private contractors began to exploit this fervor that made prison labor socially acceptable, and prison labor became big business, driven by capital greed more than reform goals. Progressive prison reformers equated this practice to slavery and strived to make prison labor the standard by which one’s reform progress was assessed, making prison labor the tool of penal reform in the United States. The attacks against for-profit prison labor came to a head in the New Deal Era. While most private contractors were expelled from the prison system, in the minds of reformers, politicians, and prison administrators, prison labor remained foundational to imprisonment and needed preservation. Alternative systems of prison labor, including state-use production and work release, were developed in this era to keep American prisoners working. These alternative systems had limitations, especially in their ability to offset the cost of incarceration. The failure to find financially suitable alternatives and the state and federal government’s refusal to outlaw prison labor ultimately led to a resurgence of for-profit prison labor in the United States. Despite drastic changes in standards of reform, control, and capital, prison labor remains a foundational feature of the prison system and the prison experience.
The Process
Step-by-Step
Visit our “Step-by-Step Graduation Guide” to take you through the graduation process.From formatting your Dissertation to Doctoral Hooding procedures.
Dissertation Manual
Wondering how to set up the format for your paper. Refer to the “UD Thesis/Dissertation Manual” for formatting requirements and more.
Defense Submission Form
This form must be completed two weeks in advance of a dissertation defense to meet the University of Delaware Graduate and Professional Education’s requirements.
