THE IDEAL OF A TRUE PRISON SYSTEM FOR A STATE
By Z[EBULON]. R[EED]. BROCKWAY
Superintendent of the Detroit House of Correction
Much is now said of the desirability of classification, by which prisoners of a certain moral grade may be
congregated in one prison or apartment, and those of other types elsewhere; and the prison system proposed recognizes and adopts this principle. In actual administration, however, it is a very difficult thing to do; and there is danger of "drawing it too fine."
In prisons conducted on the best system that can be devised, graduate them as you will, there must always be a mixed company; no human wisdom can avoid it; the tares and the wheat must grow together until the harvest. Only the very worst element can be withdrawn from the industrial reformatory of this series; but a small number will remain at the place of reception; for the first few years at least but a small percentage can get into the intermediate institution; and it will be readily seen that such changes in individuals throughout the whole will occur—fluctuating like the waves of the sea—that power to transfer at will is indispensable to the operations of the board and the management of the several establishments.
Were it possible to accomplish a perfect classification upon the basis of conduct, it would be of doubtful utility, for thereby the influence of the better prisoners over the worse would be lost; as also the stimulus to the former, and the best test of character, which is found in resisting evil and in triumphing over its influence; and the whole of both classes be deprived of that grand motor for self-improvement—a fair field for self-forgetful and self-sacrificing efforts for the elevation of others. The effect of classification is, in different relations, both favorable and unfavorable; the good are possibly made better by it; the bad are certainly made worse. Doubtless, it helps the officers to secure obedience to the rules, but this is not reliable evidence of reformation. The best behaved prisoner is often the worst citizen; men of whose reform there is absolutely no hope will, in many cases, grade out early by the best mark system that can be devised, if conduct in prison is the test; while some, whose reformation is already attained, cannot possibly keep a clean record. The true basis of classification for prisoners is character, not conduct. The criterion of character should be uniform throughout the whole system of institutions, and, therefore, should be applied in each case by the same officer or officers. Good conduct may be assumed, but good character never; men may feign insanity, and thus get into an asylum, but the insane rarely feign sanity sufficiently well to get out; nor is it easier to put on the semblance of virtue so perfectly as to deceive an experienced judge and sensible man. Reformatory results hinge upon financial independence, which is largely dependent upon the wise organization and application of the labor of prisoners; and it will be found, practically, that to classify as is generally supposed, would destroy or greatly impair the efficiency of the force for producing income, and thus work against the object sought, and neutralize any immediate result attained.
After withdrawing the very worst and best elements from an institution, as before suggested, the best classification, all things considered, is had not by separation of classes into different apartment, there allowing unrestrained intercourse, but by such supervision of each aggregation in all the different apartments, during the hours of actual occupation, as shall prevent corrupting communications, permitting occasionally, and within due limits, such intercourse as is of good effect; and the public sentiment of a reformatory may be so favorable that quite general communication can safely be indulged at times.