Another innovation of recent years has been the issue to well-behaved prisoners who have completed six months of their sentences, of note-books and pencils, by which they are enabled in their leisure moments, to make a special study of some particular subject, which is likely either to be of benefit to them on discharge, or where their prospects on discharge might be impaired by the absence of any special means for maintaining the knowledge of any special subject which they previously possessed. Notes also may be taken from books regularly furnished from a well-stocked library, where such literary extracts are deemed to be of value to a prisoner for the improvement of his mental equipment.
By such methods and strivings to find the 'treasure that is in the heart of every man,' I venture to assert that there is, and has been now for many years, what Mr. Churchill described as the "tireless effort towards curative and regenerative processes," and this is the test of the virtue of a prison system, as it is also the test of the degree of humanity in the nation.
Our prison System has, in recent years, been subjected to a very severe test by the fact that, of necessity, penal treatment in prison, primarily designed for the criminal class, has been applied to thousands of individuals in no way belonging to that class, whom it has been necessary to commit to prison under the Defence of the Realm Acts, either as Conscientious Objectors to Military Service, or otherwise, for the safety of the realm. It is not denied that prison rules and regulations press hardly on men and women who, under normal circumstances, would never have become the subject of those punitive and repressive conditions, which are inseparable from the deprivation of liberty by the State. It may be said generally that the restraints of bondage were borne with courage and patience by the great majority of those who, under the special circumstances referred to, came within the jurisdiction of the prison Authority. To persons of refinement and education (as many were), the many restrictions necessary for the safe custody of criminals would naturally seem harsh, unnecessary, and even unnatural. No doubt their experience has given an impulse to the Prison Reformer, who, in his honourable zeal to soften the lot of the unfortunate captive, is apt to overlook the necessity for strict rules and regulations in dealing with a class to whose habits and instincts he himself is a total stranger. I think that, on the whole, it may be claimed for our Prison System that it has stood the test, and emerged from the search-light thrown upon its inner workings, with at least the admission that the humanities are not neglected: that it is doing its best with the very difficult material with which it deals, to save, encourage, and rehabilitate, when that is possible.
But good influence in prisons, and on prisoners, is a very subtle and mysterious thing. I remember being struck by a passage in the life of 'John Smith of Harrow', lately published. It was as follows: "In the conduct of school-life, it is the personal factor that works for inspiration: no perfecting of methods or machinery can ever replace this." This can be applied literally to prison life; and the first and principal duty of those who administer prisons is in the effort to secure this factor of personality in the selection of the superintending staff, not only of the superior staff—Governors, Chaplains, Medical Officers, and Matrons, but of all the subordinate grades, who are in daily touch with prisoners, and who by their conduct and bearing, and example, exercise a profound influence. We are fortunate in this country in possessing such a staff. It is not given to every man and woman to be capable of combining discipline with kindness: to be at the same time firm and gentle, to be inexorable in securing obedience, while, at the same time, adapting tone and method to the infinite mentalities and moralities to be found in Prison. It is not an exaggeration to say that harshness and abuse of authority are as rare in English Prisons as instances and examples of kind and considerate treatment are abundant; and this is the more admirable when we consider the temptations and difficulties of the task. It is in the upright and manly attributes of our Warder class, typical of the English national character, that a great reforming influence is to be found. Discipline with kindness is the watch-word of our Prison Staff, both in the higher and the lower ranks, and I can say confidently, having examined the condition of Prisons in many foreign countries, that in this respect, the 'tone' of English Prisons is unrivalled.
I have been referring so far to general reformatory influence of the Prison régime, so far as it operates generally with regard to adult prisoners, convicted of ordinary crime. There are two special categories of prisoners, where in recent years a notable departure has been made from prison regulations, in the direction of bringing to bear all those special 'stimuli' and encouragements which appeal to any better instincts that may be latent, and may inculcate laws of conduct which shall protect the offender from a relapse into evil-doing. These categories are (1) the Borstal lad, (2) the habitual offender. These represent the opposite poles of criminality—the beginning and the end of a criminal career.
In the Appendix will be found the special regulations for dealing with each, and from their perusal it will be seen that the motive power used is in the appeal to the sense of Honour. This appeal is conducted primarily, and necessarily, through the natural instincts which desire comfort and rewards in ordinary human beings. They are simple enough, but in their simplicity is their value, because they teach the homely lesson, which the older criminal may have forgotten, and the younger not yet learnt, viz:—that by good behaviour and industry, and a proved effort to profit by the encouragement they receive, they may pass from a lower to a higher grade, with increasing privilege and comfort, until in the ultimate stages they are placed entirely upon their Honour, employed in positions of trust, free from supervision, and even outside the walls of the establishment. In this way the re-entry into free life is facilitated: semi-liberty precedes full liberty, and by breaking the abruptness of the change, rehabilitation or re-settlement under normal conditions of life is achieved.
Thus the lesson is slowly learnt that there is a reward for industry and good conduct—not only in what can be gained in material comfort, but that the delicate plant of self-respect, in many cases withered, but not quite dead, can blossom again; and from self-respect follows the respect of others, of those in authority; and after release, of those with whom they associate in the outer world.
Those who have watched these two movements—at Borstal and Camp Hill—have been struck by their boldness; but in their boldness has been their great success. The Borstal and Camp Hill experiments exactly illustrate the true meaning of 'prison reform,' i.e., the building up of character on the basis of strict discipline, obedience, and order, tempered by progressive stages of increasing trust, liberty, and material improvement of status. When to these influences operating inside, while the man or woman is still in custody, is added the ever-watchful care of a highly organized system of help and protection, on which all can rely on discharge, if ready and willing to respond to advice given and help offered, 'Prison reform', in the sense of the reform of the individual prisoner, is realized in its best and most practical way. It is not Utopian: it is a fact which can be verified by the records of the Borstal and Central Associations, which deal on discharge with these two special categories. It is not achieved by newspaper articles or angry denunciation of the existing system, or by the formulation of abstract theories concerning prison treatment. It is achieved by "personality," inside and outside the penal institution—personality stimulated by a lofty conception of duty to God and man. To deny these reforming influences in English Prisons is to misrepresent wilfully, and in ignorance of the facts, the great and good work that is being done.
As to the future, there seems to me to be three directions in which those who are pressing for prison reform might usefully proceed:—