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ETD Abstract Container

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The Failure of Prison Reform: A History of the Ohio Penitentiary, 1834-1885

Britton, Jessica Dyan
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1218121677

Abstract Details

2008, Master of Arts, Miami University, History.
This thesis examines the history of reform within the Ohio Penitentiary between 1834 and 1885 as a microcosm of national changes to the penal system. Its conceptual framework occupies the middle ground between two great philosophers, Michel Foucault and Norbert Elias, who have examined opposing sides of society - power and sensibilities - as primary motivators of change. Structures of modern punishment coexisted between the desire for more humane treatment of prisoners and a demand for control, making it necessary to examine both administrator records and prisoner testimonials in opposition, in order to discover if reform truly occurred. Within Ohio, substantial "progressive" change to the penal system failed because the dichotomy between power and sensibilities could not be reconciled among official voices. What resulted, then, was a system that adamantly defined progress as order. And, to avoid offending public sensibilities, it obscured the brutality necessary to achieve this end.
Andrew Cayton, PhD (Advisor)
Mary Frederickson, PhD (Committee Member)
Allan Winkler, PhD (Committee Member)
44 p.
History
prison reform; Ohio; penitentiary

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Britton, J. D. (2008). The Failure of Prison Reform: A History of the Ohio Penitentiary, 1834-1885 [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1218121677

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Britton, Jessica. The Failure of Prison Reform: A History of the Ohio Penitentiary, 1834-1885. 2008. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1218121677.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Britton, Jessica. "The Failure of Prison Reform: A History of the Ohio Penitentiary, 1834-1885." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1218121677

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1218121677
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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.