Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/664

 THE REFORMATION OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN

ILLINOIS.

THREE methods of dealing with crime have been tried, viz., the retributive, the reformatory, and the preventive. For ages the first mentioned was dominant in all countries. The general opinion was that the criminal should be made to suffer as he had made others suffer he should reap what he had sown. It was a sort of quid pro quo method of punishment. The criminal was repaid in his own coin.

The idea also prevailed that society must be protected, and by shutting the criminal up in prison this was, of course, accomplished, for the time being at least, and by inflicting severe punishment upon him it was supposed a wholesome terror would be inspired in the minds of others, which would prevent them from committing crime. But experience gradually dem- onstrated the inadequacy of this method of dealing with the criminal. While he was incarcerated society was, indeed, pro- tected from his onslaughts ; but he usually came out of prison a worse and more dangerous man than he was when he went in, and others were not so terrorized as to prevent them from com- mitting crime. In short, the retributive theory of punishment "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" overlooked the fact that crime is a product of definite causes (poverty, igno- rance, weakness of will, etc.), which must be removed before the man would cease to commit crime. When this fact was clearly recognized the reformatory method was adopted. The Elmira Reformatory of New York was one of the first institutions to apply this method, and a number of other institutions have fol- lowed its example.

This theory is based on a recognition of the fact that the criminal is a victim or product of heredity and environment, and his inherited defects must be eradicated, his natural tendencies to crime must be checked ; in a word, he must be educated, manually, mentally, and morally; he must be given the means of earning

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