Manawatu Daily Times A Prison Experiment

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6633, 21 August 1931, Page 6

Manawatu Daily Times A Prison Experiment

Prison systems, in general, are viewed by Hie of people either with passive interest or with complete indifference. Apart from a small number avlio have made prison life and its effects on prisoners a matter of close study, the great mass of public opinion may be divided into two sections almost diametrically opposed in viewpoint, and reached, unfortunately, by W ay of sentiment or prejudice in most instances, rather than by sound knowledge and scientific reasoning. By far the greater number of people believe that the way of the transgressor should be made appropriately hard, that punishment should act as a deterrent, and that prison life should be so harsh and unpleasant that a man would wish to avoid it as the plague. Others, fewer in number, argue that prison systems are far too stern and that everything should be done by kindness and persuasion, a policy that has been carried to strange extremes in some countries. While the advocates of the two schools of thought argue heatedly whenever the subject can be stimulated with a mild degree of interest, authorities have been adopting measures somewhere between retributive sternness and sentimental gentleness.

In spite of the contentions of extremists that the present system of dealing with prisoners is hopelessly wrong the report of the British Commissioners of Prisoners reveals certain encouraging features. In 1913, it states, the daily average prison population in Britain was 18,155 and in 1929 it was 10,SGI, a drop in a period of sixteen years of nearly one-half, thus allowing for a reduction in the number of local prisons from fifty-six to thirty-one. During the same time the number of convicts in penal servitude came down from 2701 to 1461. Both sets of figures tend to show that, among the several influences at work to account for such a marked diminution of crime, reformative measures in the prisons must be given an important place. One, worthy of comment, is the experiment being tried, of a payment system whereby sums are paid to prisoners according to the amount of work done. Although it is extremely difficult to assess in terms of quantity much of the work done in prisons, the Commissioners were anxious to test by actual experience the advantages and difficulties of a payment system. Taking advantage of an offer of £250 made by some public-spirited people interested in prison administration the experiment was begun in the mat-making shop at Wakefield, where there were thirty Special Class prisoners between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-six years. Mat-making is work which can be easily and accurately measured, so that the results of the payment system as far as output was concerned could be readily assessed. Transference to the Special Class was the reward of work and behaviour and any lapse after being promoted rendered the prisoner liable to be returned to the unpaid group. The system adopted was to fix a basic output and to pay for everything in excess of that. Although the payment was only one penny per unit and the basic output was fixed considerably above what had been the normal output under ordinary conditions, within a few weeks of the introduction of the scheme there was an increase of nearly 70 per cent, in output, and even when the first enthusiasm had waned the increased averaged over 50 per cent. The amount earned by the prisoners could not have been the chief incentive to extra effort, for according to the co-operative basis of the system, by which the sum earned was equally divided amongst all workers in the shop, the largest amount divided in any one week among thirty participants was £1 18s, and the individual earnings averaged between Bd. and lOd a week only. Whether it was that the work was made more purposeful, or the attractions of a pittance with which cigarettes and other small luxuries could be purchased formed the incentive, the results in increased effort should provide material for serious thought by prison authorities. Perhaps of greater importance than the actual increase in industry was the marked improvement in the behaviour of the prisoners of the Special Class. Composed as it was of young men started on a criminal career, but who had not become inured to prison conditions, there were naturally a number of troublesome members, but it was found that, when they worked energetically under the payment system insubordination practically disappeared and cheerfulness increased. Although the experiment has produced very encouraging results, and the experience gained justifies its continuation, authorities are not prepared to admit the system of payments can be worked as part of the ordinary prison routine. But even if the results are somewhat indeterminate, the experiment serves as an indication that the reformation of wrong-doers by various methods far removed from aimless. sentimentalism is occupying a more and more important place in the policy of