1. Which of the reasons why we punish has the greatest influence on the public and its policy makers today?

2. Do you think retribution will continue to be as popular as it has been in recent years? Will the costs of corrections affect this desire to incarcerate so many, for so long, and in long-term institutions?

3. With the rise of professionalism in corrections, what can be done about those who continue to demonstrate a retributive spirit and express brutality toward inmates?

4. What were the advantages and disadvantages of public executions of offenders? Would you favor televised public executions? If not, why not?

5. Alexander Maconochie thought that prison governors or wardens should belong to a profession. If so, how would the warden qualify as a professional? What experience and talents are needed?

6. What can corrections today learn from the correctional systems found at the Eastern State and Auburn penitentiaries? It can be argued that the reforms proposed in the First Correctional Congress, held in 1870, still have not been fully implemented in contemporary corrections. Why is that? Why did the reformatory model fall short of its hopeful goals? Is the medical model of rehabilitation an appropriate model for a prison setting?