76 - Using the past to unlock the reform of prisons in the present
What this challenge is about
Prison reform is urgently needed. The prison population is soaring, many prisons are overcrowded, many prisoners are forced to endure squalid living conditions, purposeful activity in prisons has declined, and many prisoners are locked in their cells for 22-23 hours every day.
This challenge aims to use an historical understanding of prisons in order to contribute to the meaningful reform of prisons in the present. Since the creation of the modern prison at the turn of the nineteenth century, policymakers and prison officials have struggled to balance the twin aims of punishment and rehabilitation, and the former has too often limited the success of the latter. History demonstrates that the whole purpose of imprisonment needs to be reconsidered if we are to reduce the prison population, cut re-offending and limit the social harm caused by the prison.
Through collaborations with Prisoners’ Education Trust, Ofsted, Ministry of Justice, and individual prisons, Phase 1 of this challenge focuses on how we can use the history of prison education, specifically knowledge of the rise and fall of the prison school in the nineteenth century, to better equip prisoners, prison staff, educational practitioners, and policymakers to make more meaningful improvements to the content and delivery of education in the twenty-first century.
Phase 2 will deliver a comprehensive history of the occupations of short-sentenced prisoners across the four nations (England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland) between 1800 and 1899, from training in skills and the practice of a variety of occupations through to unskilled, menial work and unproductive or punitive labour. The aim is to provide valuable historical evidence and insights to the debate around the use of short prison sentences and the viability of rehabilitation schemes in prisons.
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UN Sustainable Development Goals
