PRISON REFORMERS AND PENITENTIAL PUBLICISTS IN FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND THE UNITED STATES, 1774-1847 (PUNISHMENTS, CRIME, HUMANITARIANISM, CRIMINOLOGY)

Today in the western world punishment and imprisonment are closely associated and viewed as virtually synonymous. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the growth of imprisonment as a criminal punishment through the publications, activities and achievements of prison reformers in England, France and the United States between 1774 and 1847. Penitential incarceration and the expansion of imprisonment originated from a mix of ideological and practical considerations. Penitential prison discipline was viewed as a scientific, humane and progressive response to the problem of punishment by men who genuinely believed that improvement was possible and that a superior method of punishment had been, or was about to be, perfected. In addition to introductory, biographical and concluding material this manuscript contains chapters on the emergence of penitential penology, prison reform in the United States, European visitations to American prisons, and the battle of penitential systems in England and France.