Prison Reform

History of the Early Prison Reform Movement

Prison reform has its roots in early nineteenth-century volunteer philanthropic ideals. Early prison reformers had as their goal not the punitive measures of today but rather deterrence and rehabilitation of prisoners. Eighteenth-century ideas of progress and the improvement of humankind influenced beliefs in humanitarian and disciplined treatment of prisoners, and morality and religiosity were the cornerstones of such beliefs. Early prison reformers were deeply religious philan-thropists whose concern for moral improvement in society led them to envision humane prison institutions that would reform those who had fallen from grace. And underpinning such reform was the philosophy of utilitarianism (i.e., punishment should serve a useful end—the prevention of crime, not revenge).

In 1787, Quakers and other philanthropists founded the first prison reform organization—the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons—whose central goal was to create a humane prison institution based on voluntary benevolence. This movement was established largely to combat the penal code of 1786, which reflected public condemnation and humiliation of prisoners. Unlike the utilitarian philosophy of the Philadelphia Society, this code was expressive. This meant making prisoners into a public spectacle of suffering by dressing them in identifiable clothing, organizing them in road gangs, chaining them to each other, and having them work in the streets of the cities. Such practices were offensive to the enlightened Philadelphia reformists, who believed that though criminals are depraved, they are also capable of reform. Early reformists thus embarked on a crusade of restoring moral order. They lobbied for and were successful in pressuring state legislatures to impose a new model for prison reform, and in 1790, early reformers saw the opening of the first jail to model itself on their beliefs—Walnut Street Jail.

...