Reformatory Schools
For the Children of the Perishing and Dangerous Classes, and for Juvenile Offenders

An influential 1851 work on the education, care and support of young offenders by the leading female advocate of the time.

Mary Carpenter (Author)

9781108062299, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 October 2013

370 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.1 cm, 0.47 kg

Daughter of a Unitarian minister and schoolmaster, the penal reformer and educationist Mary Carpenter (1807–77) grew up in a pious family with a strong sense of obligation to those who were less fortunate. Moved by the appalling circumstances of destitute children in Bristol, she established her first ragged school in 1846. In her bid to improve the difficult lives of juvenile delinquents, her enlightened philosophy was one of rehabilitation rather than retribution, emphasising the importance of giving children a sense of self-worth. These views form the basis of this landmark work, first published in 1851. Marshalling a range of evidence in support of her argument, Carpenter highlights the need for radical change in the treatment of young offenders. Her lobbying bore fruit in England with the passage of the Youthful Offenders Act (1854), described as 'the Magna Carta of the neglected child'.

Preface
Introductory chapter
1. First principles
2. Evening ragged schools
3. Free day schools
4. Industrial feeding schools
5. The gaol
6. Penal reformatory schools.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB]