A treatise on the modern system of governing gaols, penitentiaries, and houses of correction : with a view to moral improvement and reformation of character : also, a detail of the duties of each department of a prison, together with some observations on the state of prison discipline at home and abroad, and on the management of lunatic asylums / by James Palmer.

  • Palmer, James.
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the modern system of governing gaols, penitentiaries, and houses of correction : with a view to moral improvement and reformation of character : also, a detail of the duties of each department of a prison, together with some observations on the state of prison discipline at home and abroad, and on the management of lunatic asylums / by James Palmer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    charge made against this department for cruelty or mismanagement in any of its branches. The defects which still exist in some of the gaols in Ireland are as follow:— 1st. Want of permanent and steady employment for every individual^ from rising till bed-time, ex- cepting the hours for meals and instruction. 2d. Full accommodation so as to admit of a sepa- rate cell for each prisoner. 3d. The want of a juvenile class^ so arranged as to be rather a school for trades, morals and instruc- tion, to alter the habits of the young culprits, re- move them from evil society, and train them up as any young person may be if attended to, and thus reform that part of the rising generation, who fre- quently find their way into gaol, and who, if sent out as they come in, will inevitably increase their number by tainting others ; one pickpocket or young vagrant, if reformed, is of far more value than his own personal change. 4th. The neglect of a steady and permanent si- lence, amounting to the prevention of any inter- course amongst prisoners: a better description of turnkeys can only effect this. 5th. The want of chaplains who could give their entire time in aid of the reformatory system, and who should be fairly remunerated, giving some hours each day to the duty, not only of prayers morning and evening, but to individual instruction, advice, and exhortation. Were these things provided for, and steadily carried on, I have no hesitation in asserting, that crime would be lessened, individual reformation M^ould take place, and in a very few years the county gentlemen would have reason to congratu- late themselves on the success of their efforts and on the economy by which it was effected.