From lecturer:
This question is not just asking you to simply repeat the facts concerning convict prisons parrot fashion.
Neither is it asking you to discuss transportation, borstal, local prisons, or non-custodial alternatives – so stick to the question!
It is asking you to discuss WHY a variety of measures were used in the convict prison system between its start in 1853 and its end in 1948.
You may want to include in your introduction a brief explanation of what the system of penal servitude involved and how it differed from simple imprisonment with or without hard labour in local prisons.
The question is asking about BOTH reform AND rehabilitation – so don’t just focus on one of these topics.
Reform could mean both spiritual and physical reform – i.e. reform of both mind and body -so think of what kind of methods were used to achieve this?
Rehabilitation is obviously linked but could also include things like getting used to regular work habits, learning to read and write etc.
So how the convict system attempt to control convicts’ bodies and minds? What about things such as diet, exercise, separate confinement, education, moral improvement etc?
Be aware that the convict system itself changed between 1853 and 1948 – you may want to discuss WHY these changes occurred – think for example about the different approaches of Jebb, Du Cane and Ruggles-Brise. What about changes in education, silence, prison uniform, labour etc?
Books which may help from me not 100%
– “The Evolution of Prison Reform in England and the United States: A Comparative Perspective” by David J. Rothman (The Journal of British Studies, Vol. 27, No. 2, April 1988)
– “Reforming Punishment: Psychological Limits to the Penitentiary Ideal, 1780-1850” by Joel Eigen (The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 69, No. 4, December 1997)
– “The Origins of the Modern Prison in Industrial Britain” by Sean McConville (The Journal of British Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2, Spring 1983)
– “The Prison and the Factory: Origins of the Penitentiary System” by Michel Foucault (Vintage Books, 1995)
– “The English Convict: A Statistical Study” by Charles Goring (Routledge, 2015)