147th Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Prison Society

• Author: A.G. Fraser
• Published date: 01 January 1934
• DOI: 10.1177/003288553401400101
• Date: 01 January 1934
• Subject Matter: Articles

VOLIJME XIV, No. 1
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JANUARY, 1934
THE
PRISON JOURNAL
D19VOTED TO THE SCIENCE OF PENOLOGY
Published Quarterly by r-It-I-
THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY
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(Organized 1787) .
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311 South Juniper St.,
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Philadelphia, Pa~
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Contents ......
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Directory of Officers and Staff ,.·,.:.’~~’~~’ .~ ...
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147th Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Prison
Society
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The Citizen and the Prison--Dr. Louis N. Rob-
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Editorial ~,r~ . ~.. - .. ~ .. ; .... , .. -» . °.~-;~ ~~ ~ . 14
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The Citizen and the Prisoner-Thos. M. Browne 16
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Discontent in Prisons-G. Morton Walker, D.D. 18
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Recommendations and Proposals of the Sub- &dquo;&dquo; .., .’~..t¡’
Committee on Social Work of the Commit- &dquo;, B
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tee on Case Work and Treatment of the
American Prison Congress
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Review-&dquo;Osborne of Sing Sing&dquo;-A. G. F... 27
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Financial Statement ...... ’ ...... 28
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The Pennsylvania Prison Society
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Officers
President .... , , ......... FRANCIS -rislij,~R KA,NJ4:
.........., , ... , . GEORa>i
W. WILKINS
Vice
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MISS GEOR(#F~
FANNY W,
T. WILIiINs
COCH’RAN
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Executive Secretary..’ ....,. ALBERT G. FRKSzR
Treasurer
SEWELL W. HOI)(110
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PAIi.KER ~.
P .ARKER S. WILLIAM:3
WIT~LIAMS
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Cnux.scllors
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Slxtrr~EN IIF-WIS
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Executive Committee
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REV. GusTAV H. BECHTOLD
HERBERT L. N]t~KE
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.T. HOWARD BRANSON
ALBERT C. OEr3ILLE
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W. L. BUCHER, JR.
KENNETH L. M. PRAY
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MISS .FANNY T. COCHRAN
MISS FLORENCE T,. SANVILLE
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ALBERT G. Fm~sFR
THOMAS C. SATTEBTHWAIT
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8EWET~L W. HODGR
Dp. N. K. TKETKRS
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h’RANCIS }1.RHER KANE
GEORGE W. ~W LxINS
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The Acting Committee
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group of eighty members from which
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the h;.xeautivc Committee is chosen.
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ALBERT G. FRA8KR
Executive Secretary
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LZEC.BKIKR .................. Cage ~Ork~’.r
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WM. JKBOME BEAUMONT .............. Case ~Of~cr
WILLIAM H. KIIdNEY’
~a~ Worker
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HERBXBT L. NELKE
Volunteer
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FRANKLIN D. FRY
Student in Trai~cinwt~
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RIOHABJ) T~3AaoN
CaRC Worker
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(Temporary)
student v,m, Trainios~
ELIZABF,TH
ELIZABETH R. Moop.F
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R. MOORE ,
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SARAH L. YARNALL .............’
Office Secretarin.Q
ELKANOR PRACrtr,rt. (Temporary)
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311 South Juniper Street
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147th ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA
PRISON SOCIETY
Part 1
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The New Deal in Penology
Almost every country in the world has been witnessing pro-
found and far reaching social, political, and economic changes in
recent years. In some countries these changes have been accom-
panied by bloodshed and revolution. No one can say with convinc-
ing assurance where all these will lead. In this country, at least,
we believe that on the whole the movement has been forward.
&dquo;We enter upon the new year with a realization that we have
crossed the threshold of a new era. We have the opportunity of
improving conditions and making our country a better home,
materially and spiritually, for more than 120,000,000 people. To
do this will require the concerted aid and continued efforts of
many forces-of Government, Federal, State and local; of social,
spiritual, industrial and fina,ncial agencies
The Field of Penology
The field of penology has not escaped the influence of these
changes. Outgrown concepts are being discarded, and are being
replaced by more dynamic principles. The validity of long es-
tablished and accepted institutions and customs is being questioned,
and subjected to the scrutiny of logic and reason. There is
prevalent here, as elsewhere, a divine discontent with the use of
any social implement which does not possess social value. The
use of brute force, or repression, as an ethical means of Social
control is being questioned.
As people become more civilized they become more humane
and demand more humane methods of dealing with offenders.
It has been said that a true index of the civilization of a people is
found in the way it treats its prisoners. Our entire attitude to-
ward crime is undergoing profound modification. Punishment as
an act of vengeance no longer has any standing in civilized com-
munities. Consequently our prison system, which came into use
for the purpose of punishment, is no longer acceptable.
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The Prison Era
Imprisonment as a method of punishment for crime is of
comparatively recent origin. It came into use in response to a
demand for more humane treatment of offenders than that provided
by the old system of torture and mutiliation.
The movement which culminated in the universal use of im-
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prisonment as a method of punishment for crime in America, be-
gan in the year 1682. In that year the code of William Penn was
adopted in Pennsylvania. It provided for the use of imprison-
ment as punishment for crime. Although this code was later re-
Letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the President of the General Federation
Of Women’s Clubs, December 1933, as reported in the public press.
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pealed, the change was consummated in 1776, when the use of
branding, mutilation, and execution, (except the death penalty for
murder) was wholly discarded. The transition period from 1682
to 1776, therefore, marked the introduction of what one might call
the Prison Era in penology.
It is no mere accident that this
transition to more humane treatment took place while America
was working out other revolutionary ideas in democracy.
The prison system, from the start, was accompanied by very
grave abuses, and did not fulfill the hopes of those who worked for
its adoption. The movement to modify and improve this rigid and
wholly negative system, began almost as soon as it came into
universal use. In 1776, the Pennsylvania Prison Society, then
known as the Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons,
was organized in...