The New York House Of Refuge

Corrections, when seen as the control and punishment of convicted offenders, has been an important part of organized society from the earliest days of civilization. It has not always had a proud past, however. Important changes in correctional practice began around the time of the American Revolution when the purposes of criminal punishments were closely examined by influential reformers. Only within the past 30 years have thorough corrections experts begun to embrace the concept of professionalism, ethics, a sense of high purpose, a personal long-term commitment, a respect for the fundamental humanity of those supervised, and widely agreed-upon principles and standards that guide the daily work of correctional personnel. Today is an age in which the lofty goals of corrections professionalism will take their place alongside the more traditional components of a still-developing field.

The Refuge period started in 1824 and ended in 1899. In this period the Society for Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency made way for separating juveniles from adult offenders. Then facilities for juveniles were established in most major cities to reform

I’m going to speak on the introduction and also some of the procedures to the juvenile system in America in the early 1900’s, and also in today’s generation . When people think of the juvenile justice the first thing that comes to mind is probably all of the bad children that end up in jail or prison. When we forget that these are just children that can be helped in other ways: such as reformed schools, Big Brother programs, Boot camp, etc. In the early 19th century courts would punish and confine juveniles in large penitentiaries, not taking in consideration the psychological affect it would have on the juvenile: sleeping, having conversations, showering, fighting, eating amongst grown adult whom can easily manipulate these children

Prison reform was a viable aspect of the Reform Movements in the 1800s. Reformers wanted to evidently punish prisoners but they also wanted to make sure they maintained a sense of humanity. They did this by reconstructing prison systems, seeking ways to treat the mentally ill and more. Document A highlights the importance of good treatment to prisoners in order for them to be rescued and eventually work to become viable members of society. This document

In the Fourth Annual Report from the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the City of New York in 1829 (Document A), the flaws of the traditional system was flawed. Due to the flaws, new institutions were going to be constructed which “by religious and moral instruction,..and by giving them industrious and orderly habits, rescuing them from vice and rendering them valuable members of society”. This philosophy for helping prisoners become “valuable members of society” helps expand democratic ideals even in the illest members of

The Fourth Annual Report stated that prisons should separate the young from the old, as well as educate the prisoners with religious instruction (Document A). These reforms stem from rehabilitation as opposed to punishments. By teaching the prisoners how to live good lives, they would be able to succeed in society after serving their time. Rejoining society increases democratic ideals by keeping them out of prison in the future, thus increasing voters and bettering future society members. Another part of the prison reforms included the destruction of debtors prisons. Lower class members who could not pay off debts were put into prison, losing the ability to vote for the time being. This produced unequal elections. By removing debtor prisons, a more equal expansion of voting was able to take place. Stemming from prison reforms, progress was also made with the mentally ill. Previously, the mentally ill, which included a range from mentally disabled to depressed, were seen as embarrassments. Led by Dorothea Dix, improvements were made in the treatment of the mentally ill in asylums. Reformers informed the public of the horrible conditions of the asylums, in their fight for better treatment. They wanted the mentally ill to gain a more equal role in

It was handled through family and willingly efforts. Prisons were for criminals to serve time for punishment not for them to rehabilitate and eventually return to the community. Eventually, mentally ill people would end up in prison as well because there were no facilities for mental illness treatment. Reformers felt as though social issues could be redeemed by creating public institutions to particularly deal with social problems. The creating of public institutions was penitentiaries. The purpose of this institution was to transform the violent individuals into good citizens that abide by the law. This includes hard work, and religious teaching. Prisons began to disappear as reformers established workhouses to keep the poor, drunks, and gamblers on the right path. Soon after, the mentally ill treatment housing was

Fr. Bruce Ritter founded the Covenant House in 1972. The first location of the Covenant House was Manhattan and the second location were Staten Island. The Covenant House was designed to get the homeless youth between the age of eighteen and twenty-one off the street and give them skills to handle and improve their situations. Now in today’s time there are Covenant Houses in more than thirty-one sites across six countries.

At the same time, the seeming success of the Elmira Reformatory led to recommendations that that success be more widely publicized. With greater publicity, came thousands of visitors to Elmira and other states began to call on their own prisons to be modeled after the Elmira Reformatory where inmates were “wisely and humanely treated” (Brockway, 2012, p. 238). The Elmira Reformatory was widely recognized as a “new departure in the treatment of adult male felonious prisoners” (Brockway, 2012, p. 242).

seek to provide an understanding of the roles of social workers and the social work

The state prisons today were founded on the basis of the 1700s to 1800’s during the Age of Enlightenment. The English correctional facility referred to as a “gaol,” commonly known as a jail. They housed men, women, children, the mentally ill along with the civil and criminals. The individuals suffered from idleness, diseases, despair and malnutrition. The gaols were maintained by local authorities, classification did not exist, and the purpose of gaol was to detain or hold people for court.

In the early nineteenth century juveniles were treated the same as adults when it came to the legal system. We did not have separate courts or jails for juveniles and they would often receive the same punishments as adults that had committed crimes. “At the beginning of the

Before the Progressive Era, children who were over the age of seven were put in jail with adults. In the early part of the 1800’s reformers started to become concerned with the overcrowded environment in the

The juvenile justice system in America has been through numerous phases of growth. In recent years, it has endured extensive changes that have taken place as a product of reforms made to revitalize the innovative principle of juvenile justice, the idea of bringing individual justice and treatment to the heart of the system. This assessment of related literature looks particularly at the accessible studies on juvenile detention centers in order to prove the negative effects of taking a disciplinary approach in juvenile justice. It starts with an historical evaluation in order to place the increase of detention centers in context. This paper subsequently goes on to talk about detailed problems

According to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), in 2012, Westchester County incarcerated 213 juvenile delinquents (source, Office of Children and Family Services). Historically, New York State (NYS) has bolstered expenditures on the complex prison system. According to the Correctional Association of New York, irrational prison spending has quickly surpassed expenditures geared towards higher education: “Almost fifteen years ago the Correctional Association of New York documented how New York’s governors and politicians had rapidly increased prison funding while cutting funding to higher education” (source, Binghamton Justice Project). Based on this information, senior management team members at Safe-future Halfway House are interested in the educational advancement of our at-risk youth; we will accomplish this by providing educational services and resources. The Safe-future Halfway House can only accommodate 5 clients and one