How Prison REFORM change Our National Charcter

What was prison reform?

• The Prison Reform era took place in the 1800s
• Occured because handicap/ menatlly ill lived under awful conditions

What Conditions were like:

• prisoners, infants, mentally unstable would all be crammed into 1 jail cell
• very little food
• very dirty and unsanitary
• often whipped and mistreated

what doctors did to "cure" patients

• douse patient in hot/cold water until mind went back to "normal" state
• threaten them
• place patient in straight jacket
• give them powerful drugs
• many other inhumane and harsh things (solutions didnt even work)

Dorothea Dix

• who is she?
• dedicated life to helping handicap
• teacher at an a girls school and hospital
• saw how horrible prisoners were treated and she stepped up to make a change

John Howard

• Created the "John Howard Association"
• very wealthy, so devoted time and money to worthy causes
• he saw first hand conditions because he was a sheriff

How did this change our national character?

• Congress passed a bill (which Dorothea Dix helped pass)
• made asylums, mentally ill hospitals, and jails relatively nicer places
• eighth amendment