No one knows exactly when criminal law and corrections began in human society. However, it would likely have occurred at the point in social evolution when collective revenge was first substituted for private revenge. That is, people realized that the feuds were costing the group too much in terms of injuries and lives, and the behavior of some individuals was initially imagined to be harmful to the group as a whole. The entire group, or the leader(s) acting on its behalf, acted against the perpetrator. (Stanko 25)The idea of ​​prison has existed for thousands of years and seems to be an integral part of the human concept. We eliminate people who disrupt society and put them away or get rid of them. We, as a modern culture, want things to run smoothly. Hindering it will cause individuals to be noticed and prosecuted by the system. The prison system has shaped the modern world and helped create the society we have today. We feel safer and, especially in the United States, we are freer and can maintain our sense of freedom because we feel safe enough to do what we want. Prison systems have adopted their own methods to keep the small prison world under control. They created their own rules and regulations to keep the system running smoothly. “Furthermore, the National Prison Association (NPA), the precursor to the American Correctional Association (ACA), had already existed for three decades and provided a valuable professional forum for correctional officials to meet, share ideas, and advocate for solutions” (Herman 50 ). It is essential that these systems maintain constant control of the situation within prisons. The control they have exercised over prisons must not only be maintained, but, in the middle of paper, our prison systems, we will in turn be able to help solve one of the biggest problems facing our society today. Works Cited Clark, Charles S. "Prison Overcrowding." CQ Researcher 4 February 1994: 97-120. Network. December 16, 2011."crime." American history. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 15 December 2011. Drucker, Ernest. A plague on prisons. New York: The New Press, 2011. Print.Herman, Peter G., Ed. The American Prison System. np: The H.W. Wilson Company, 2001. Print.Merlo, Alida V., and Peter J. Benekos. “Politics, Media, and Corrections.” Journal of American Prisons. Greenhaven Press, 2005. Gale At Issue Series. Network. December 14, 2011Tonry, Michael and Kathleen Hatlestad, Eds. Sentencing reform in times of overcrowding. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print. Stanko, Stephen, et al. Living in prison. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. Print.