Reform of Criminals

The question of the operation of the system of solitary confinement, which we have recently discussed in our columns, and which has been referred to in the Assembly, incidentally opens up the whole subject of the reform of criminals. It is a curious fact that after the amount of labour and thought that has been devoted by philanthropists to devising means for the reformation of criminals while undergoing sentences, a comparatively unskilled body of men like those who direct the Salvation Army should bear the reputation of having established the most effective reforming agency yet applied to the problem of the reclamation of discharged prisoners. The object of all prison reform should of course be to lessen the necessity for gaols. Yet it is known that in spite of all the experiments that have been made during the last half century, at the present time, in most English communities, the state is put to the expense of catching again and imprisoning about 60 per cent. of its discharged criminals. So striking an illustration of the inefficacy of gaol reformatories is calculated to give colour to the views of those extremists who argue that there is no such thing as reformation for a criminal, and that a man having once committed an offence it should be taken as prima facie evidence that he will commit it again. The successful operations of the Salvation Army, however, show that the means of earning a respectable living are very often preferred to the harrassing life of the habitual rogue, three quarters of which is spent in prison and the remaining quarter in dodging the police. The true system of reducing the expenditure on our gaols is the one which anticipates crime and its punishment alike. The easiest methods of dealing with offenders against the law contemplated expiation only, and that of the severest sort. Of late years philanthropists and philosophers have endeavoured to devise establishments in which reformation shall be made to go side by side with punishment. But there is some thing in the gaol atmosphere which is antagonistic to the best results from these well meant endeavours. An infinite variety of modifications has been tried of the hanging, the solitary, the hard labour, the silent, the separate, and the transportation systems, and all with disappointing effect. A great difficulty has always been the association of offenders bearing the taint of vice. The novice having unrestrained intercourse with past masters in criminal arts naturally devotes his spare time to acquiring additional skill in fraudulent practices. There is always in a gaol a sympathetic corruption going on, which neither bolts nor bars can stay.

When the Model Prison at Pentonville was first erected a fair trial was given to the separate system. After a few years the original discipline was entirely remodelled in favour of Colonel Inns mixed system. Under the separate system, the prisoner was kept apart from his fellow criminals, but he had daily intercourse with the officials. The mixed system shortened the term of separate confinement and substituted a period of associated labour on the public works. The change produced no improvement, and it showed an increase of insanity. A Royal commission on prison discipline in Victoria reported against this system as applied to Pentridge some years ago. The custom was for a male prisoner on entering Pentridge to be received into the A division, where he was confined in a separate cell for a period of as many months (not exceeding 12) as there were years in his sentence. At the end of his term of separate confinement, the prisoner was transferred to the B division, where the cells are separate, but the men work and take their meals in company. When a certain portion of a prisoner's sentence had expired, he was removed to the C division, where the prisoners associated at work, at meals, and during recreation, and where they slept in dormitories containing about 50 beds each, having unrestrained communication with each other. The commission were of opinion that the system pursued in C division gave rise to evils of the most serious character, as the unrestrained companionship tended directly to destroy any moral effect that might have been produced by the disciplinary process undergone in the two other divisions. But apart from the minutiæ of prison regulations almost all discharged prisoners say that there is no such thing as reformation in gaol. Those who are looked upon as the chaplain's "lambs " are generally the most incorrigible, who have studied to please the rev. gentleman with a view to gaining mitigations of punishment. The primary object of punishment is to deter from crime and thus protect society, but though the reformation of the offender is a subordinate object it is a matter of great consequence if viewed only from an economic point of view. The latest experiment in goal reformatories is that of Elmira, New York. It is based on the principle that the study of human nature is of more consequence than a sentimental regard for improved environment of the prisoners. Public opinion has shown a disposition to take a turn against the "coddling " system, which makes an average gaol so much more pleasant a place of abode than it was some years ago, and robs it of its terrors to the malefactor. A distinguishing feature of the Elmira reformatory is that it is provided with school-rooms sufficient for the accommodation of all its inmates. It is described as a great educational establishment, the entrance to which is through the door of crime. The education is compulsory. Each prisoner is put through a severe intellectual discipline as well as taught a trade; and his sentence is reduced according to a certain sliding scale of proficency in all the branches of work after a fixed standard has been reached. The man is passed through various grades, and in the effort to gain and keep the proper number of credit marks, it is maintained that in the course of a few years his whole nature must undergo a change. It seems at first sight a little dangerous to systematically sharpen the intellects of men bearing the criminal taint, but the statistical results of this treatment show a remarkable success. We are told that 80 per cent. of the prisoners discharged from this institution do not again trouble the police, and this is much the highest record of the kind to be found in the history of gaol reformatories.

The Elmira system is worthy the attention of sociologists. The reformatory measures of our gaols degenerate into mere mechanical action. They include no gradual process of adaptation to the social state of the individuals brought under their application. As, regards the reclamation of discharged prisoners, one reason of the success of the Salvation Army is that its officers are enabled to effect a change of character by the action of new circumstances and the constant pressure of new conditions, while showing the most trusting confidence in human nature, however depressed or degraded. The operations of the Prison Gate Brigade are a substantial proof that men will abandon the criminal career if they get a fair chance of living in comfort and respectability when they give up their evil habits. All things considered, the reforming process is more likely to be successfully applied outside the gaol than in it.

 The Argus 13 July 1885,