"Provocative and insightful. . . . With the publication of this
excellent work, Pisciotta has established himself as one of the
most important of the prison historians to whom we should listen in
the future."
--"The Criminologist"
""Benevolent Repression" fills a maor gap in our histories of
U.S. prisons--disregard for the network of men's reformatories. It
seems incredible that, until now, historians neglected such a large
and influential branch of the prison system. Pisciotta more than
makes up for the lapse, however, with this informative and valuable
study."
--Nicole Rafter
Author of "Partial Justice: Women, Prisons and Social Control"
"Pisciotta's study is a major contribution to the history of
crime and punishment in America. His extensive research on the
origins and development of reformatories challenges the accepted
interpretation that these institutions had a reformative influence
on the corrections system. This work sets the stage for a revised
understanding of the institutionalization movement in uvenile
corrections."
--John A. Conley, Professor and Chair of Criminal Justice, State
University College at Buffalo
The opening, in 1876, of the Elmira Reformatory marked the birth
of the American adult reformatory movement and the introduction of
a new approach to crime and the treatment of criminals. Hailed as a
reform panacea and the humane solution to America's ongoing crisis
of crime and social disorder, Elmira sparked an ideological
revolution. Repression and punishment were supposedly out. Academic
and vocational education, military drill, indeterminate sentencing
and parole--"benevolent reform"--were now considered instrumental
to instilling inprisoners a respect for God, law, and
capitalism.
Not so, says Al Pisciotta, in this highly original, startling,
and revealing work. Drawing upon previously unexamined sources from
over a half-dozen states and a decade of research, Pisciotta
explodes the myth that Elmira and other institutions of "the new
penology" represented a significant advance in the treatment of
criminals and youthful offenders.
The much-touted programs failed to achieve their goals; instead,
prisoners, under Superintendent Zebulon Brockway, considered the
Father of American Corrections, were whipped with rubber hoses and
two-foot leather straps, restricted to bread and water in dark
dungeons during months of solitary confinement, and brutally
subjected to a wide range of other draconian psychological and
physical abuses intended to pound them into submission. Escapes,
riots, violence, drugs, suicide, arson, and rape were the order of
the day in these prisons, hardly conducive to the transformation of
"dangerous criminal classes into Christian gentleman," as was
claimed. Reflecting the racism and sexism in the social order in
general, the new penology also legitimized the repression of the
lower classes.
Highlighting the disparity between promise and practice in
America's prisons, Pisciotta draws on seven inmate case histories
to illustrate convincingly that the "March of Progress" was nothing
more than a reversion to the ways of old. In short, the adult
reformatory movement promised benevolent reform but delivered
benevolent repression--a pattern that continues to this day.
A vital contribution to the history of crime, corrections, and
criminal justice, this book will also have a major impact on
ourthinking about contemporary corrections and issues surrounding
crime, punishment, and social control.
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