“But we Will Always Have to Individualise”. Police Supervision of Released Prisoners, its ‘Crisis’ and Reform in Prussia (1880-1914)
This paper examines a particular form of punishment in Prussia: the institution of police supervision. Police supervision was an additional punishment imposed on prisoners after their release from prison. Although it was meant to safeguard law and order by carefully integrating former prisoners, “th...
Gardado en:
| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/chs, |
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| Autor Principal: | |
| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
| Publicado: |
Crime, Histoire & Sociétés
2013
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| Acceso en liña: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Résumé: | This paper examines a particular form of punishment in Prussia: the institution of police supervision. Police supervision was an additional punishment imposed on prisoners after their release from prison. Although it was meant to safeguard law and order by carefully integrating former prisoners, “the failure of betterment [of the convict] was an essential element of the logic”2 of police supervision. This article deepens our insight into the history of this form of punishment by examining the practise of supervision and its reform. Police supervision was contested; its handling was criticised by advocates of reform, and even the Prussian Interior Ministry was alerted in 1866 that the current practises did not match with the aims of police supervision. The notorious military style of policing in Prussia, as well as persistent policing practises of local policemen on the beat and the design of police supervision itself, jeopardised the care and the surveillance of ex-prisoners. By the turn of the century, a set of reforms sought to make a fundamental difference by introducing a “monitoring care” under the responsibility of welfare societies: an enhanced individualising approach to remedy the situation. However, as I will show, the reforms did not successfully address the shortcomings of police supervision; the “failure of betterment” continued, even if it took on a new form. |
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