Introduction

Many people working in the penal system itself are, partly in consequence, experiencing a growing uncertainty regarding their obligation or capacity to catalyse changes in prisoners’ self-perception and their attitudes to others, and to alter behaviour among offenders. The May committee was concerned to preserve what seemed to them to be ‘admirable and constructive’ endeavours with prisoners but in general expressed strong doubts that substantial personal change within individuals was a major realisable goal of the prison system. Consequently, in every penal reformatory endeavour there are general beliefs about what is desirable in human attitude and behaviour, theories which explain the failure of prisoners to attain that standard, and prescriptions of methods to enable such accomplishment to occur. The individual tendencies of prisoners would need to be taken into account and the regime tailored to each. Staff would need to inspect closely the progress of each prisoner’s reformation and new skills would need to be taught them.