The Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy (New Series, No. 47 and 48, January 1909)Pennsylvania Prison Society
History
The Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy (New Series, No. 47 and 48, January 1909)
Pennsylvania Prison Society
Charities -- Periodicals; Prisons -- Periodicals
“I contend that we are doing society a great injustice, as well as the
prisoner himself, to allow him to step into liberty again without some
careful oversight. What the discharged prisoner needs is a real friend
who will give him the opportunity to rise and do better on the causeway
of redemption, meeting him at the prison doors, arranging a helpful
environment and providing him with employment of some kind.”
In his address on “The Duty of Society to the Discharged Prisoner,”
Bishop Samuel Fallows, of Chicago, emphasized two points: 1. The
discharged prisoner is a man and a brother; therefore our sympathy must
go out to him. 2. Society must do its utmost to rehabilitate the one who
has infracted the law, and above all to give him employment. If a man is
willing to work it is the best evidence that his reformation has begun.
Statistics show that the majority of those who are again usefully
employed turn out well.
In the discussion which followed, Warden Wolfer, of Minnesota, made the
suggestion that prisoners should be allowed increased earnings for
overtime, to be applied to the support of the families of married men
and to give single men a start in business when they leave prison. In
this he was strongly seconded by Dr. F. Emory Lyon, Superintendent
Central Howard Association, Chicago, and Warden McClaughry, of Kansas;
and the latter was subsequently instructed to prepare a resolution on
the subject to be submitted to the congress.
In his paper on “The Man with the Bundle,” the Rev. Frank G. Brainerd,
Superintendent of the Society for the Friendless, Kansas City, laid
stress on providing the discharged prisoner with work and wholesome
recreations and inspiring him with high ideals. In speaking of the work
of his society, he said: “The men, upon release, are given every
necessary assistance and care. It is the custom in the West to take the
discharged prisoner directly to the home of the Superintendent, that for
a few days he may live under his roof, sit at his table, find a home
with his family and be made to believe that wholesome and clean ways of
living are for him also if he wills it. It is the custom then to find
him congenial employment, to fit him out an extra suit of clothes, a
change of underwear and, if necessary, an overcoat. These are
contributed by friends of the society over the State. A suitable
boarding place is found, new friends are provided, money is loaned and
board bills are guaranteed if necessary, and he is given friendship,
oversight and counsel in his effort to live a new life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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