What were the new prisons built in Pennsylvania that focused on solitary confinement referred to?

The new prisons built in Pennsylvania that focused on solitary confinement were referred to as penitentiaries. This term reflects the intention behind these facilities, which aimed to promote penance, rehabilitation, and reflection on one's behavior through solitude. The Pennsylvania system exemplified a shift in the approach to incarceration during the early 19th century, prioritizing reform over punishment.

The design of these penitentiaries emphasized that isolation could lead to self-reflection and moral improvement. By contrast, terms like reformatories, correctional facilities, and asylums refer to different concepts in the history of incarceration and treatment of the criminally insane, lacking the specific historical context surrounding Pennsylvania's solitary confinement model.