In Inveraray most male prisoners made herring nets or picked oakum. Some with special skills were employed at shoemaking, tailoring or joinery work. Female prisoners picked oakum, knitted stockings or sewed.
In their cell, they were provided with a hammock, mattress, blankets, sheets, a pillow, towel, comb, spoon and salt cup. Each cell had a stool, box and chamber pot with lid
For dinner a female prisoner who was unfit for work would receive 1 1/2 pints of soup and 6 ounces of bread; while a male prisoner who was fit for work would receive 2 pints of soup and 12 ounces of bread. Male prisoners weighing more than 12 stones (without boots) and female prisoners weighing more than 11 stones (without shoes) were entitled to receive an extra 1 ounce of cheese and 4 ounces of bread daily
13, Elizabeth Fry, a British social reformer, began working to improve the conditions of the prison and the treatment of the inmates, especially the women and their children. Until Fry's policies were established, women, children, debtors, and convicted criminals were held together in open cells. In 1858, the interior was rebuilt with single cells.See also Fry, Elizabeth Gurney; Old Bailey.
Fry promoted humane care and treatment of prisoners, especially women and their children. From her first visit to London's notorious Newgate Prison in 1813 until her death,
separate facilities for women, religious education, and the training in meaningful work for all inmates. She also argued for the prohibition of alcohol in jails.
Enforcement has been a method of keeping peace and keeping society civil since the dawn of civilization.
Because she thought that the mentally ill were so mistreated, she took matters to the courts and won
Dorothea Dix
In addition, she helped to found thirty-two mental hospitals, a school for the blind, and many nursing training facilities
She was strict in her criteria for women that she would train, and she was very impatient. For this, she lost the support of the United States Sanitary Commission and other groups that had helped her begin her training.
Because there were so many prisoners, it was chaotic, and guards had to use torture to keep them in line
Eliza Farnham
a well-known philanthropist, feminist, phrenologist, and author
Farnham removed the silence rule, added an educational program, and advocated such luxuries as decorations, recreational activities, and leisure activities.
Children were separated out from adult prisoners for the first time, although so little accountability was built into early juvenile-justice systems that conditions rapidly became far worse than those for adults
despite the curricula and activities of the reformatory movement, prison conditions deteriorated to a struggle for control in inhumane and hostile conditions.
Prison reform--rehabilitation of criminals attempted to counter the
tendency of prisons to create more hardened criminals. Work seen as way
to reform criminals.