Delinquency Education

In the Beginning

The history of “delinquency education” extends back to the late eighteenth century. During the Revolutionary War, more revolutionaries died as prisoners in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions than as soldiers in combat. Unwavering in their defense of the ideals put forth in the Declaration of Independence, revolutionaries criticized the inhumane treatment perpetrated by the British during the war and worked diligently among White populations to use incarceration and the judicial system in constructive ways. Benjamin Rush, a signatory, along with Quakers from Pennsylvania, supported the idea of rehabilitation in prison. The idea of rehabilitation and reeducation expanded in the 1800s, particularly in regard to children; however, many prisons instituted rules of silence, restricted mobility, and abusive control of those who were incarcerated.

In the early 1800s as the concept of childhood developed, states began to distinguish differences between adults and children and founded separate institutions of incarceration. States established refuge houses and reformatories for boys and girls, separating them from the adult prison population. By the end of the 1820s the legal community recognized children who violated the law as belonging to a special category, and the first refuge houses opened in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Boys and girls were both sent to refuge houses, although always to separate quarters.

The judicial system framed the illegal activities of children as uncontrolled and unguided behavior that needed modification. Supporters of refuge houses recognized the problem of severe poverty and advanced the idea of giving young offenders education and vocational training rather than punishment. They hoped civilized instruction in reformatory schools and work in reformatory factories would alter the behavior of the children. Religious studies, vocational training, and hard labor defined the educational programs for delinquents. The reformation of the child, not punishment, became the goal. Unfortunately, many refuge houses exploited the labor of the children, and often staff abused the children.

...