The Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy (New Series, No. 50) November 1911Pennsylvania Prison Society
History
The Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy (New Series, No. 50) November 1911
Pennsylvania Prison Society
Charities -- Periodicals; Prisons -- Periodicals
The farm does build up the body of the anæmic; it gives a good physical
development. Moreover, the habit of industry can very much better be
taught where results are being achieved on the farm than where work
is being done at little or no profit in a factory. And efficiency is
better developed on the farm. The farm has a direct physical value and
an indirect mental and moral value. It clears a man’s mind and allows
him to think straight. It affords a foundation for developing the
spiritual structure, though of itself it will only slightly develop
one mentally or morally. The man is now physically well, having had
lessons in life. Here is the opportunity to further develop his will
in order that he may do right. Looking to that end, we have introduced
the regular presentation of the gospel in an orderly way. We intend
to teach by example, but we need an official who shall be recognized
by the prisoners as their friend, one who shall know them and make it
his exclusive business to help them establish the desire to do right
and aid them to be able to fulfill that desire. This seems one of the
unsolved problems in Cleveland and in nearly all such institutions.
We have the parole system in operation, though there is not help enough
for its most efficient execution. There is the Brotherhood Club for the
men who have no home to which to go, established at the suggestion of a
former prisoner. There a man may stay until he appears strong enough to
live a normal life. The club is intended to be self-sustaining.
In my opinion the country is the place for the misdemeanant, for the
very obvious reason that it affords plenty of light, pure air, a
variety of good food and wide opportunity for productive occupation
for the prisoners. There work is purposeful, not a time-killer. They
work, eat, sleep, have recreation and religious teaching, all under
approximately normal conditions. Every man is treated with kindness and
consideration; discipline is not on parade. In short, the prisoner is
treated like a man and to the extent that if there is manhood in him
it will come out. The purpose is to develop honor and faithfulness,
to accustom every man to useful occupation and to teach him to be
effective. The officers are not armed, they are not even called guards.
In fact, they act as teachers, foremen or farmers, as the occasion
requires.
There is so much work to do in developing, enriching and cultivating
the land, in erecting buildings, in making roads, that every feasible
labor-saving machine is used. This of itself speaks to the man the
appreciation of his work as a man and not a substitute for a machine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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