Reformatory
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A reformatory is a juvenile prison where legal minors are sent by (juvenile or general) courts to spend a custodial sentence, separate from the bad example of and abuse by adult (often hardened) convicts, usually gender-separated (mainly boys). It is generally designed not just as a punishment but as a means for (re)education, to reform (hence the name) their hopefully still mendable character, through a combination of strict discipline (symbolic for its harsh reputation is the term reformatory cane) and schooling (hence many are officially called reformatory school or simply school) and/or labor.
The reality has all too often tended rather to penal harm and/or exploitation. Alternative forms of juvenile reeducation have therefore been devised, such as community services, in some cases with better results.
A well-known example is the British borstal.
See also
- Boy's Republic
- Youth detention center
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