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SCHOOLS FOR ADULTS IN PRISONS, 1923

RECENT HISTORY

The first bulletin on schools in prisons for adults published by the United States Bureau of Education was issued in 1913. During the 10 years that have intervened, some progress has been made toward the solution of the problem of dealing with men and women. in prison. The advance has been less, perhaps, in visible accomplishment than in focusing public attention and clarifying thought on the possibility of reformation and the ways of promoting it. It has been a period of experimentation, of learning by trial and error, of success and failure.

The net results are not very evident, but they seem to be in more general agreement on some fundamental ideas and fuller preparation for effective work in the future. The problem is better understood than it was 10 years ago, and this is a step toward its solution. It is now quite clear to those who have given the matter study and thought that the prevention of moral disease is easier than its cure; that the formation of character, rather than its reformation, should be the chief reliance in efforts to protect society from evil men and evil deeds. The intelligent wrongdoer sees more clearly that the way of the transgressor is indeed hard, that jails and prisons are spiritual dungeons, and that it is the part of wisdom to give them as wide a berth as possible. Many people are now convinced that reformation must be the conscious act of the individual concerned, a result of the soul's struggle with itself, aided by the helpful influences of intelligent human sympathy. Few now question the truth of the statement that the door of hope should never be closed on a human being, but that all possible life lines should be thrown out to those who are struggling amid the wreckage strewn in the sea of disaster and despair.

It is now quite generally agreed that the treatment of men and women in prisons is essentially an educational problem in the broad and true sense in which that term should be defined. The human mind has made civilization what it is and will make it what it is to be. The virtues that have saved society in all crises of human history, and the vices that have destroyed the civilizations of the past, have been the products of the human mind. Spiritual

forces have always been mighter than material forces in shaping human destiny, and their dominance will continue until the end of time. The only power that can save the criminal is his own will, that brought calamity upon him.

At this point, unfortunately, two antagonistic and mutually exclusive views are held, and efforts are being made to put each of them into practice in dealing with the problem of reformation. One view is that the problem is economic, the other that it is chiefly mental and moral. The advocates of both regard the problem as educational, but one puts the main emphasis on manual labor, the other on mental and moral remedies to promote reformation. Perhaps the best solution of the problem will be in a happy combination of the two phases of educational endeavor.

Schools in the prisons of New York were established in 1905. They were pioneers in adult education and in the education of adult foreigners. In starting these schools the superintendent of prisons made the significant statement, "Hitherto, the prisons have been run in the interests of the industries; hereafter, they will be run in the interests of the inmates." The "school idea," which is not fundamentally economic, was introduced in a systematic and comprehensive way into prisons for adults. Progress of prison schools has, for a number of reasons, been slow; but they have gained a recognized place in the activities of the prisons, have demonstrated the possibilities of such schools, and are prepared to advance to a higher stage of usefulness when public sentiment is ready for such advance.

In recent years efforts have been made to improve industrial activities in the prisons. The aim seems to be to put them on a paying financial basis, to keep the men physically employed with profit to themselves, to their families, and to the State. Minnesota has taken the lead in this matter by turning the work of prisoners to advantage in manufacturing the binder twine needed by the farmers of the State. Attempts have been made in some of the prisons to introduce trade instruction. Prisoners have been encouraged to get ready to earn an honest living when they leave prison, to form habits of industry, efficiency, and thrift that will fit them to return to society as self-reliant, and competent members of it. All this is commendable, but the fact should not be overlooked that none of these, nor all of them together, are sufficient to secure the chief end in view the reformation of the men themselves. There must be a higher purpose than the economic rehabilitation of the inmates to which all other prison activities should be tributary.

Instruction in various lines through correspondence courses has been introduced in some prisons to enable the better educated men and women to follow their inclinations and develop their special

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