Hard Time: Reforming the Penitentiary in Nineteenth-Century Canada - Softcover

McCoy, Ted

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9781926836966: Hard Time: Reforming the Penitentiary in Nineteenth-Century Canada

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1926836960 ISBN 13: 9781926836966

Publisher: Athabasca University Press, 2012

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Prisons have always existed in a climate of crisis. The penitentiary emerged in the early decades of the nineteenth century as an enlightened alternative to brute punishment, one that would focus on rehabilitation and the inculcation of mainstream social values. Central to this goal was physical labour. The penitentiary was constructed according to a plan that would harness the energies of the prison population for economic profit. As such, the institution became central to the development of industrial capitalist society. In the 1830s, politicians in Upper Canada embraced the idea of the penitentiary, and the first federal prison, Kingston Penitentiary, opened in 1835. It was not long, however, before the government of Upper Canada was compelled to acknowledge that the penitentiary had not only failed to reduce crime but was plagued by insolvency, corruption, and violence. Thus began a lengthy program of prison reform.

Tracing the rise and evolution of Canadian penitentiaries in the nineteenth century, Hard Time examines the concepts of criminality and rehabilitation, the role of labour in penal regimes, and the problem of violence. Linking the lives of prisoners to the political economy and to movements for social change, McCoy depicts a history of oppression in which prisoners paid dearly for the reciprocal failures of the institution and of the reform vision. Revealing a deeply problematic institution entrenched in the landscape of Western society, McCoy redraws the boundaries within which we understand the penitentiary's influence.

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Book Description:

Tracing the rise and evolution of Canadian penitentiaries in the nineteenth century, this book examines the concepts of criminality and rehabilitation, the role of labour in penal regimes, and the problem of violence.

From the Inside Flap:

Tracing the rise and evolution of Canadian penitentiaries in the
nineteenth century, Hard Time examines the concepts of
criminality and rehabilitation, the role of labour in penal regimes,
and the problem of violence. Linking the lives of prisoners to the
political economy and to movements for social change, McCoy depicts a
history of oppression in which prisoners paid dearly for the reciprocal
failures of the institution and of the reform vision. Revealing a
deeply problematic institu- tion entrenched in the landscape of Western
society, McCoy redraws the boundaries within which we understand the
penitentiary's influence.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.