Managing moral reformation: the case of Queensland's reformatory for boys, 1871–1919
ISSN: 0819-8691
Article publication date: 26 October 2020
Issue publication date: 5 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This article explores the case of the Queensland's reformatory for boys through the years 1871–1919 to analyse how the institution negotiated the complex, and at times competing, goals of reforming, educating and punishing its inmate population.
Design/methodology/approach
The article relies on documentary evidence, including archival material produced by the institution and newspaper records published between 1865, when the legislation allowing the institution to be created was passed, to 1919, when the institution ceased to be known as a “reformatory”.
Findings
This research demonstrates that, despite considerable changes during the studied period, the overarching goal of reforming criminal and potentially criminal young people continuously relied on achieving a balance between reformative techniques such as religious instruction and work placements, providing a useful education and punishing offenders. It also demonstrates that, despite efforts to achieve this balance, the institution was often described as unsuccessful.
Originality/value
Due to the paucity of available archival evidence, there is still relatively little known about how the reformatories of late-19th- and early-20th-century Australia attempted to carry out programmes of moral reformation. This paper contributes to the field through an analysis of an institution which faced unusual challenges as a result of a complex inmate population.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a Griffith University Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. The author also grateful for the research assistance of Ms Debra Kuss, funded through the 2018 Griffith University Humanities Undergraduate Research Internship Program.
Citation
Clarissa, C. (2021), "Managing moral reformation: the case of Queensland's reformatory for boys, 1871–1919", History of Education Review, Vol. 50 No. 2, pp. 226-240. https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-05-2020-0034
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited