The History of The Howard League for Penal Reform, 1866-1948
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Sch of Historical Studies
Abstract
The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest penal reform charity in the UK. It was established as the Howard Association in 1866 for the "promotion of the most efficient means of penal treatment and crime prevention" and to promote "a reformatory and radically preventive treatment of offenders". Merging with the Penal Reform League in 1921, and the National Association for the Abolition of Capital Punishment in 1948, it continues to campaign for change in the criminal justice system. This project aims to produce the first history of the Howard League for Penal Reform. Research will focus on aspects of the relationship between the organization's campaign work and actual penal reform, within the larger economic and social history of Britain during this period. There is considerable scope to shape the academic element of the project to their own interests. Themes might include the League's relationship with government, its campaigns on prison conditions and against capital punishment, its work with women and juvenile prisoners, its support for discharged prisoners, the intersections between the League and other social reform campaigns, the role of women campaigners in the League, the League's global work, and the League's relationship with parallel international organizations. There will also take pace 3 1-month internships at the Howard League's London headquarters. During these internships, public-facing materials will be written, including online materials and research briefings which draw out lessons and key ideas showing the relevance of historical analysis of the League's past campaigns and methods on today's penal debates. The organization of two public-facing events will also take place.
The project aims to produce the first academic history of the work of the Howard League (est. 1866), including the National Association for the Abolition of Capital Punishment (est. 1923, and merged with the League in 1948). The project's overriding objective is to enable the Howard League to understand itself as an organisation, by researching aspects of the relationship between its campaign work, the larger economic and social context, and actual penal reform, at historically specified moments in the past. The overall aims of the studentship are to: (1) produce innovative academic knowledge about the history of Howard League campaigning, framed within the larger economic and social histories of Britain, including of poverty, welfare, gender, childhood and adolescence, and of penal reform; (2) create new historical resources for the use of The Howard League and its members, showing the relevance of historical analysis for today's penal debates; (3) engage in knowledge exchange activities that will enhance public understanding of the historicity of penal reform.
The project aims to produce the first academic history of the work of the Howard League (est. 1866), including the National Association for the Abolition of Capital Punishment (est. 1923, and merged with the League in 1948). The project's overriding objective is to enable the Howard League to understand itself as an organisation, by researching aspects of the relationship between its campaign work, the larger economic and social context, and actual penal reform, at historically specified moments in the past. The overall aims of the studentship are to: (1) produce innovative academic knowledge about the history of Howard League campaigning, framed within the larger economic and social histories of Britain, including of poverty, welfare, gender, childhood and adolescence, and of penal reform; (2) create new historical resources for the use of The Howard League and its members, showing the relevance of historical analysis for today's penal debates; (3) engage in knowledge exchange activities that will enhance public understanding of the historicity of penal reform.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000711/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2100101 | Studentship | ES/P000711/1 | 01/10/2018 | 31/07/2022 | Jessica Kebbell |
| Description | The Howard League for Penal Reform, known as the Howard Association from 1866 to 1921, is an organisation that, up to now, has not been researched thoroughly and on such a scale. The two main aims of this research are to produce the first academic history of the work of the Howard League and to enable the Howard League to understand itself, and its history, as an organisation. Whilst the first objective will not be completed until the end of the project, some headway has been made in achieving the second objective. One such way that my research has been able to provide this understanding is by documenting who was working for the Howard League between the project timeline of 1866 and 1948. Having created a database of everyone I could find that worked for Howard League, it highlighted important information on the organisation. Firstly, it emphasised that the Howard League was dominated by men, particularly in the 1800s. However, when we move into the 1900s, especially the 1920s onwards, there is an almost complete reversal, and we see women dominating personnel and having the positions of power such as secretary. This trend is also seen in wider social reform movements. Secondly, it shows the relationships the Howard League had with international persons and organisations, as well as their worldwide reach (the organisation had international members and correspondents from nearly all continents). Lastly, it documented the sense of network and community that ran through the organisation. For example, we see members of the same family across multiple generations getting involved with the work of the Howard League, and we also see the same names coming up in membership lists of other groups, such as temperance and slavery societies. The second way that my research has been able to provide this understanding is by looking at what issues the Howard League focused on throughout the timeline, and whether attitudes to these issues stayed the same or changed over the years. For example, the Howard League campaigned for the abolition of capital punishment from their beginnings in 1866 through to 1948 and beyond. Their belief that is was wrong never wavered. However, with issues such as the separate and silent system (whereby prisoners were kept apart from each other for 23 hours a day, a very similar situation to what we would now call solitary confinement), attitudes changed over time. At first, the Howard League campaigned in favour of this system, as it would prevent what they termed 'gang culture' from occurring in prisons, and would ensure that prisoners did not learn criminality from each other. However, over time the system came under a lot of criticism, particularly focusing on the negative mental health side effects, and campaigning changed to ending the system. Another example is that of temperance, which is the abstinence from alcohol. The temperance movement wanted to encourage as many people to do this as possible, and wanted to limit the hours of public houses and other places that sold alcohol. Throughout the 18th century, the Howard League campaigned for temperance, unsurprising considering many members of the organisation were Quakers, and temperance was part of Quaker life. However, in the 20th century this issue became less important to the Howard League. A further way in which the thesis aims to provide an understanding of the organisation is through analysing their heavy use of literature. Throughout the time period being studied, there are multiple different strands of literature that they use for a variety of purposes. For example, there are annual reports, pamphlets, newspaper articles, letters to editors, conference papers, and many more. This allowed them to reach multiple different audiences, including the public, the members of the Howard League, members of the government and anyone else they considered important in order to achieve their aims. The type of language they use is also an important element of this literature, as this differs depending on the audience and purpose. For example, in pamphlets, which are largely for ordinary members of the public to read, there is more simple yet emotive language being used, in order to convince them of their arguments and gain support for their campaigning. However, when we look at the annual reports, and even the papers they wrote to present to various groups, we see more of the technical language associated with penal reform. The people reading these are perhaps more experienced in the area of penal reform than the average member of the public, and as such they can afford to terms that the layperson may not know offhand. Yet another way that the Howard League can be understood is through looking at the ways in which they conducted research in order to gather information that they would then use in their campaigning efforts. Two of the main ways that they conducted this research was through prison visits and surveys. Various prisons throughout Britain and the world were visited by members of the Howard League, in order to have a look at what works and doesn't work with different systems. This then allowed them to campaign for certain conditions, or removal of certain conditions, that they can then evidence worked in a different locale. In regard to surveys, the Howard League surveyed prisoners themselves in order to establish how they felt about prison conditions and any services that were available to them in prisons. They also sent out questionnaires to different countries in order to get data about their prison populations. |
| Exploitation Route | The main way in which the current findings may be put to use by others is by the Howard League themselves, who want this understanding of their organisation. A page on their website is dedicated to this project, and findings will be uploaded on to the site throughout the project so that their history can be shared with everyone who has an interest in the organisation. |
| Sectors | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://howardleague.org/research/researching-the-history-of-the-howard-league/ |