Lessons from History

In the week that the government publishes its Green Paper on sentencing policy and rehabilitation, Monday nights second episode of Ian Hislop's 'Age of the Do-Gooders' on BBC2 made fascinating viewing for several reasons. I was particularly struck by the piece on Mary Carpenter who published a report in 1852 entitled 'Juvenile Delinquents, their Condition and Treatment'  and which contributed to the passing of the Juvenile Offenders Act of 1854.

As with so many Victorian social reformers of the time, she was driven by strong religious faith and a firm belief that child offenders could be reformed by compassionate care and love. She put these beliefs into practice by opening the first Girls Reformatory in Bristol in 1852 and in effect was responsible for ushering in a more enlightened approach towards child offenders that exists to this day. But what the programme made clear was that the path was not easy or straightforward and along the way Mary found it particularly upsetting when certain girls failed to respond to compassionate treatment.

Some 150 years later we find that the issues are pretty much the same. Some children have very poor upbringings that lead into poor life chances and inevitably for some, anti-social behaviour and criminal activity. As I discussed the other day, Frank Field's recent report confirmed all this and stressed just how vital good parenting is. But as Mary found all those years ago, today some child offenders have been so damaged that they remain difficult and challenging for society. Better that they are not damaged in the first place.

The difference nowadays is that, unlike in the age of the reforming pioneers, there no longer seems to be a universal acceptance as to how to treat delinquent children, or indeed what the causes are. I suppose with the general demise of a religious belief in compassion, the public have not been convinced by more recent sociological arguments. We have a vociferous right wing 'punishment' lobby which whole-heartedly supported the 'ASBO' approach, coupled with increases in the use of custody. Happily though, I continue to see signs that the coalition government is intent on returning us to a more intelligent and compassionate approach to the whole subject, even if motivated by the imperative to save money. The 'Age of the Do-Gooders'  would repay viewing on i-player for those interested in the historical background to current penal policy.