NCJ Number
113073
Date Published
1983
Length
206 pages
Annotation
Using case histories, State records, and a variety of public and personal data sources, this text presents a social portrait of the State Industrial School for Girls in Lancaster, Mass.; from its inception in 1856 to 1905.
Abstract
The history of this institution and its inmates illustrates in microcosm the intricacies and dilemmas of 19th Century social thought. The school, intended as a model reform effort, was the first family-style institution in North America. The school embodied new theories on the reformation of youth and the origins of the institutional response to the young, particularly the poor and delinquent. Its history also provides a picture of the period's attitudes toward women, sex roles, and sexuality. An examination of the school during its first 50 years reveals the devolution from reformist visions and optimistic goals at mid-century to pessimism and scientific determinism by the end of the century. The mid-century ideal of rehabilitative care changed to a principle of rigid training and custodial care by the 1880's and remained so into the early 20th Century. The influence of social conditions and norms, particularly, class, age, and gender biases on policies and programs for the reformation of the poor and wayward are highlighted. Case records provide information on the inmates' demographic characteristics, staff attitudes toward the school and the inmates, and the operation of the institution and its programs. Photographs, illustrations, tables, chapter notes, index, and approximately 300 references.