PRISON REFORM IN ENGLAND

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 2, 4 January 1939, Page 6

PRISON REFORM IN ENGLAND

’T’HE reforming influence of prison has been the subject of. pioA found doubt for many years, and now Great Britain is seeking to get as far away from the idea of imprisonment, and punishment as possible. _ Various commissions have, over the last six years, been investigating every phase of delinquency and the reformation of offenders and the recommendations of these commissions have now been incorporated in a Bill which was introduced into the House of Commons in mid-November. It is hoped, by this legislative measure, to start a new era in prison life. The reforms proposed arc:— Abolition of corporal punishment for both young and adult offenders except for serious prison offences. . . Abolition of penal servitude, and with it of the ticket.-Oi-leave system. In order to protect the public, criminals with bad records will, for a certain period after release, be required to keep in touch with some society to be approved by the Home Secretary. , r i The terms “convict” and “convict prison” is to be abolished. Prisons will be classified according to the type of people in them. The term “criminal lunatic” to be replaced by “State mental patient,” and the existing criminal lunatic asylums, such as Broadmoor, to be called “State Mental Hospitals” and administered by the Board of Control. No more “hard labour” sentences, which has become in practice an almost meaningless distinction in terms. Changing of terms, however, will not effect changes in attitude toward the criminal, but it is nevertheless true that terras are important. Readers of Oliver Twist will remember how the term applied to orphan children in charge of the Boards of Guardians was used in a way- to indicate that the said children were something less than human. The use of a term which implies degradation maintains that mental attitude in the public, and more particularly with the inmates. It is indeed desirable, as a first step, to use terms which indicate a desirable attitude toward the problem. The steps to be taken to bring about the reformation, that is, the re-forming of the character of the delinquent person, are, of course, the most important part of the new scheme for the re-establishment of offenders. Remand Centres are to be established for young offenders between the ages of 14 and 17, and between 17 and 23 years. Young people who have committed offences will be required to attend at these Remand Centres during their unoccupied hours and, consequently, will be deprived of week-end attendance at football matches and cinemas. State Remand Homes are to be established, each home to serve a large region comprising many local authorities, for problem cases of children and young persons requiring special medical observation. “Howard Houses” are to be set up to provide a system of residential control, under which young offenders between 16 and 21 years would be under disciplinary control in this new type of institution only outside their working hours. The ideas behind these reforms are clear enough. It is intended to provide an organisation which shall save the offender from becoming a criminal, particularly by his being brought into contact with the less desirable members of society. The idea of segregation is fundamental to the reforms. If there is a weakness it lies in the probable establishment of large institutions for dealing with offenders of various classes, for it is undoubtedly desirable that the knowledge that any individual is or has been under corrective restraint should be shared by as few persons as possible. One of the great hindrances to reform by convicted persons in New Zealand lies in the blackmail which prison mates inflict on anyone of their number who re-establish themselves, the blackmailer using the threat to expose the rehabilitated man’s record. Further, the larger the institution the greater the influence of the most recalcitrant members. Undoubtedly expense has to be conside-ed in these matters, and the difficulties of supervising a large number of small institutions would be greathr than directing several large institutions, but when the purpose to be served is the reclamation of what may be, ind usually is, valuable human material, the question of cost must be regarded both from the standpoint of cash and of humankind.