In nineteenth century America, social reform movements sought to change the social and political views of marginalized groups of people, those who were thought of as insignificant in the eyes of society (“Definition of Social Reform”). Social reform movements involve these insignificant groups, and the activists that dedicate time and effort to change political policy, an approach adopted by the nation’s government, while bringing public awareness to the issue through forms of public protests, and media.
Reform movements, predominantly make subtle changes to particular characteristics of society to improve the quality of the situation that many marginalized groups are in. When a subtle social reform movement is ineffective, a more assertive social reform may take place. Social movements have sought to reform political policies pertaining to women’s rights, slavery, communitarianism, educational reform, temperance, and prison, psychiatric hospitals, and asylum reform.
Among the many types of social reform movements in the nineteenth century, prison and asylum reform began with the need for a change, an attempt to improve the conditions inside prisons, establishing an overall more effective penal system. American prison and asylum reform, characterized by the complete change of correctional facilities, the activists and organizations that supported the system, and the primary systems of prison reform, allowed for the success of the prison reform movement, and paved the way for the American prison and asylum system today.
American social reform movements of the nineteenth century were characterized by perfectionism, impatience with compromise, and a distrust of established institutions. These qualities explain the degree of success or failure of these movements in achieving their objectives. In America, prisons have been around since the early colonial times. The earliest prisons were local jails, used as holding facilities for those awaiting trial. Imprisonment wasn’t seen as a punishment, but instead the step that came before punishment.
When a person was convicted, instead of imprisonment, they were executed, fined, tortured, or banished. Beginning in 1682, places like Pennsylvania and New York began to use imprisonment as punishment for criminal offenders (McAfee and Smith). Death penalty and other harsh forms of punishment were only allowed for severe cases such as murder. Punishment for other crimes consisted of imprisonment, fines, and labor in correctional institutions. By the late seventeen-hundreds, prisons were in a ruinous state for all those involved, specifically the convicts.
The sole purpose of prison was detention, and no attempts of rehabilitation were made (“Evolution of NY’s Prison System”). While long-term confinement was considered an improvement over the old system of harsh punishment and execution, prisons were dangerous places where the inmates were tortured and forced to insanity through poor treatment, living conditions, and excessive punishment. However, this changed in the early nineteenth century, two new concepts of imprisonment were introduced in New York and Pennsylvania, stating how the structures should be operated, and what they should look like.
These concepts resulted in the reformation of entire prisons. They were no longer intended to house prisoners in poor living conditions, but to reform them and assist them in becoming citizens once again, with the ultimate goal of helping convicts return to society. Because of the significance of reformation in correctional facilities, sentences were long enough to allow the program to have its coveted result. This change in the prison system can be marked as one of the first of many achievements during the prison reform movement.
Without the prison reform movement that paved the way for improved convict life and opportunities, it is likely that the penitentiary system known to society today would be very different. Any form of social reform, whether it be women’s rights, slavery, or prison reform, requires much time and effort. Social reform movements are generally subtle and gradual movements, that require many activists to take charge and recreate political policy, while bringing awareness of the situation to the public eye. There were many individuals that took charge in leading prison and asylum reform; one of these reformers was Dorothea Dix.
Dix was introduced to prison reform when she went to England to recover from tuberculosis. While recovering from the illness, she became very interested in Unitarianism, a belief that God is one entity, contrasting with the common belief of the time; Trinitarianism, in which God is thought of as three beings. In 1841, she was asked to teach Sunday School for women at the East Cambridge Jail, and because of her newfound interest in Unitarianism, she seized the opportunity. Upon her arrival at the jail, she discovered crowded into an unsegregated group: women and children, innocent and guilty, sane and insane individuals.
There was no distinction between the women and children, mentally ill, innocent, or those actually convicted of a crime. Dix felt as though something needed to be done. She began observing hospitals for the mentally insane in Massachusetts, in which most of the mentally ill were living in jails, chained and neglected, subjected to incredibly appalling conditions. After several months, and several meetings with doctors to find an alternative, humane treatment, Dix wrote a petition to the Massachusetts Legislature.
Dix’s petition stated that psychiatric hospitals should work to cure the mentally ill on a foundation of kindness and respect, the opposite of the methods they were initially implementing to cure patients. This petition led to the creation of asylums that would be used to reform mentally unstable patients, many of whom were moved out of jails, other poor living conditions, and were placed in asylums. Dix continued working to reform the care given to the mentally ill as she expanded her efforts to encourage prison reform.
The asylum reform was a highly successful movement, in which Dorothea Dix refined many aspects of the way society viewed and treated mentally ill people in the nineteenth century. Dix’s movement for the creation of asylums initiated reforms in similar institutions across the world, causing reevaluations, the adoption of more appropriate methods of care of the mentally ill, and set goals for institutions throughout the nation (Avina). Prison reform movements not only had the support of many individuals, but the support of entire reform organizations.
The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons’ reaction to the treatment of convicted prisoners resulted in the formation of the Society in 1787, the first reform group in the world. In 1790, the Society persuaded the state legislature to create an act in which prisons were to be reformed. A solitary confinement prison was to be built and the Walnut Street Jail became the first prison in Philadelphia. A new prison, built in 1829, the Cherry Hill Penitentiary was a model for the new method of reform, the Pennsylvania System.
The Women’s Prison Association (WPA), separated from the Prison Association of New York in 1853, began as the female department of the Prison Association of New York in 1845. This organization desired separate prison quarters for women, and to reform female convicts through religious practice and domestic training. The organization hoped that this would lead to jobs for the women if they were released, such as becoming housekeepers, nannies, and seamstresses, allowing them to become a part of society again.
Accomplishments of this rganization consist of passing legislation, advocating for children with imprisoned mothers, and creating programs that support families being brought together again after a member of the family was in prison (McAfee and Smith). There were two primary systems of prison reform in the 19th century. The Pennsylvania System, also known as the Separate System, and the Auburn System, otherwise known as the Silent System. Often referred to as the separate system, the Pennsylvania System was strongly influenced by Quaker ideals of repentance, which involved absolute isolation from others and silence, as well as strict discipline.
New prisoners wore hoods while being led to their cells, so they were not polluted by other inmates. They ate, slept, and eventually worked alone in their cells. Religious and moral instruction is an important feature of the Pennsylvania System; religious teachers were often the only visitors allowed, and every prisoner received a Bible. The entrances into the cells were low, so convicts had to kneel upon entering, a further reminder of repentance (Schumacher). The Auburn prison system, often referred to as the Silent System, was first used in 1819, at the New York State Prison in Auburn.
Though it integrated Quaker ideals of reformation into the prison system, it was considered less pure than the Philadelphia System. Prisoners were often together while working,eating, and praying, but they returned to their solitary cells at night. Silence was enforced at all times within the prison, even among groups. The prisoner’s work usually consisted of hard labor, such as the construction of buildings or roads, which was considered the route to repentance and reform. The Auburn System first introduced the tier system.
Different levels of cells were built above one another, in which convicts were placed according to their offense. Inmates wore uniforms of different colors, depending on the classification of their crime. The work schedule produced income that the Pennsylvania System could not, and the Auburn System was more cost effective and practical as inmates were less likely to go insane, they was easier to feed, and give essentials to. The Auburn System quickly became the model for prisons nationally (“360 Degrees”).
These systems allowed for reform while at the same giving inmates better care, and overall living conditions. The systems put into play more of a correctional facility rather than a prison system. In nineteenth century America, social reform movements sought to change the social and political views of marginalized groups of people. Social movements have sought to reform political policies pertaining to women’s rights, slavery, communitarianism, educational reform, temperance, and prison, psychiatric hospitals, and asylum reform.
Among the many types of social reform movements in the nineteenth century, prison and asylum reform began with the need for a change, an attempt to improve the conditions inside prisons, establishing an overall more effective penal system. American prison and asylum reform, characterized by the complete change of correctional facilities from the use of harsh punishment, to the use of reform, the activists and organizations that supported the system such as Dorothea Dix and the WPA, and the Pennsylvania, and Auburn Systems allowed for the success of the prison reform movement, and paved the way for the American prison and asylum system today.