ABSTRACT
The split – schism almost – between criminology and penology makes it difficult to explore the relationship between criminality, punishment, rehabilitation and subsequent behaviour. Jesse Varley’s years in prison were a time, one might have thought, when his every move would be monitored, recorded and archived. Whether or not Jesse Varley felt his fall from grace more acutely than other offenders, whether or not he was treated more leniently than other inmates while in prison and whether or not efforts were made to rehabilitate him, he certainly received preferential treatment when he was discharged. Even the grossest betrayal of trust, it seems, did not necessarily disbar ‘respectable’ white-collar criminals from some of the advantages traditionally accruing to ‘professional men’ and those from the ‘higher grades of commercial life’. The West Kent Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society, which covered Maidstone prison, was typical.
