Moral Guardians? Prison Officers, Prison Practice and Ambiguity in the Nineteenth Century

Johnston, Helen

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with understanding the role and working lives of turnkeys, warders, prison officers between 1835 and 1877 period, and to examine this role within a broader understanding of the nature of local imprisonment at this time.  Over this period, England and Wales experienced a significant change in penal philosophy moving from the use of the 'reformatory' practices of separate system, enacted in the Prison Act 1839 to a more deterrent regime, based on low diet, harsh living conditions and hard labour from the 1860s, which only begins to ameliorate by the end of the nineteenth century.

Citation

Johnston, H. (2008). Moral Guardians? Prison Officers, Prison Practice and Ambiguity in the Nineteenth Century. Punishment and Control in Historical Perspective (77 - 94). Palgrave Macmillan

• Acceptance Date: Oct 24, 2008
• Publication Date: Oct 24, 2008
• Pages: 77 - 94
• Book Title: Punishment and Control in Historical Perspective
• ISBN: 978-0-23054-933-3
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/405195