John Howard and the Reform of Prisons

In 1773 John Howard became high sheriff of Bedfordshire in England and was shocked by the county jail. Prisoners who had been found not guilty could still be held until they paid fees to the jailer, and many suffered from disease, especially 'gaol fever', a form of typhus. Howard began a systematic investigation, visiting hundreds of prisons across Britain and Europe and recording conditions, numbers and costs.

His book The State of the Prisons (1777) combined detailed statistics with moral argument, calling for salaried jailers, clean cells, separation of different kinds of prisoners and work for inmates. Parliament passed acts addressing jail fees and health in 1774, and the Penitentiary Act of 1779 set out plans for reformed prisons. Howard's method, gathering evidence to drive policy, became a model for later reformers.

Some historians, such as Michel Foucault, later argued that the new penitentiaries replaced public cruelty with constant surveillance and discipline, a different kind of power over prisoners.