Lives of Young Delinquents

Description

The Royal Philanthropic Society (RPS) was the first institution in England to care
for young offenders. While historians have demonstrated the legal importance of this
institution, none have examined the experience of the youths it attempted to reform. The
admission registers of the RPS reveal the importance of adults and peers in the experiences of
the inmates of the institution, as both could be sources of conflict and support. Youths could
express power over their own lives by resisting the authority of adults, but also by conforming
to the rules of the RPS. Inmates could restrict the choices of their peers by working with the
RPS, but also through peer pressure or violence. Networks of collaboration and youth culture
could also exert a positive impact on peers. Because this thesis represents male youths as
actors, it makes a significant addition to recent histories emphasizing the impact of the
subaltern groups on eighteenth-century reform movements.
Author Keywords: Conformity, Juvenile
Delinquency, Penal Reform, Power Relationships, Royal Philanthropic Society, Youth
Culutre