- Reform school
A reform school in the
United States was a term used to define, often somewhat euphemistically, what was often essentially a penal institution forboy s, generallyteenager s.History
Social reformers in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries almost invariably found fault with the then-usual practice of treating juvenile offenders essentially the same as
adult criminal s. It was recognized that the juveniles were oftensex ually and otherwise exploited by the older inmates and that they were often receiving instruction in more advanced and hardened ways of crime by hardened criminals with little regard forlaw ,society 's morals, or evenhuman life . As a result, rather than their sentences serving as a deterrent to future crimes, many juvenile offenders emerged from incarceration far worse than when they were first sentenced.The reforms, which were adopted far more readily in some states than others, consisted of a two-pronged approach: a separate juvenile code and
juvenile court s for offenders who had not reached theage of majority , and the building of separate institutions for juvenile "delinquents" (the stigmatizing term "criminal" not being used). Because the primary purpose of these institutions was to be rehabilitative rather thanpunitive , they were styled "reform schools". For the most part, these institutions were custodial.In the 1950s and 1960s, many of the same problems that had occurred with the former system of incarcerating juveniles along with adults began to be noticed in reform school -- older juveniles exploiting the younger ones, sexually and otherwise, and the younger ones taking the more hardened, usually older offenders as role models and mentors. Also, the term "reform school" itself, originally intended as destigmatizing, had developed its own stigma, much as the way "welfare payments" were intended to be the destigmatizing corrective term for "relief" or "the dole", but developed a stigma of its own.
Modern view
Today, no state openly or officially refers to its juvenile correctional institutions as "reform schools", although such institutions still exist. The attempt has also been made to reduce the population of such institutions to the maximum extent possible, and to leave all but the most incorrigible youths in a home setting. Also, in an attempt to make the situation more socially normal, and in response to the rising number of young female offenders, many such institutions have been made coeducational.
The current approach involves minimizing the use of custodial institutions and the maximization of the use of less-restrictive settings which allow the youths to remain in their own homes, usually while attending during the daytime an institution called an
alternative school or something similar, which is usually a more-structured version of apublic school . There may be court-monitoredprobation or other restrictions, such as a strictcurfew applied to the clientele of the "Department of Youth Services" or whatever the state terms it, than for other youths the same age.In the
United States , the most well-known facilities meeting the general criteria for being colloquially labelled "reform schools" include the Lincoln Hills School nearMerrill, Wisconsin (mentioned in episodes of the once-popularTV series "Picket Fences ") and thePreston School of Industry inIone, California . The first reform school in the United states was theLyman School for Boys inWestborough, Massachusetts . It opened in 1846.In
Denmark Continuation schools continue to be used as reform school. Most important they are much cheaper than Youth detention centers while the success rate are much the same [http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/krimi/baggrund/article.php/id-8685744.html Når børn begår kriminalitet] (Then Children commits crimes), TV2, September 9 2007. Today there no national guidelines regarding the severeness of the crimes the children are charged with when it comes to a decision whether the children should end up at a reform school, because each town have a budget of their own. Children charged with making bomb threats end up in such places [http://www.jv.dk/artikel/196702 14-årig sendes på efterskole efter bombetrussel] (14 year old being sent to continuation school after bomb threat), By Allan Staal, Jydske Vestkysten, June 17 2005.ee also
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George Junior Republic References
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