Borstal Discipline
The right degree of discipline for Borstals is not something that can be well laid down in writing. It depends on the character of the officers and the boys, and must vary, slightly but significantly, from one institution to another and from one year to another. All that the Prison Commissioners can do is to lay down the broad rules and leave their day-to-day inter- pretation to the Borstal governors. In this Borstals are like schools, regiments, or any other association of men. The first report of the committee now enquiring into offences by persons in legal captivity, which deals with Borstals, was published last week, and expresses the opinion that discipline in Borstals is too slack. This is an opinion which the public would agree with. It is true that the public only hears of the failures of discipline —the escapes, uproars and recidivism—but there has been enough evidence this way to show that all is not well. The danger is that, once discipline in a Borstal institution slips, the real sufferers are the boys who could benefit from the system if it was working properly. In theory no boy is sent to a Borstal unless it is thought that he will benefit from the training he gets there, but there are inevitably misfits, whose influence can be out of all proportion to their numbers. The committee recommends that there should be some institution where these misfits can go to. At present there is no means of ridding a Borstal of an unruly inmate unless he breaks the law in some way which makes him eligible for a prison sentence. This is obviously wrong.
Previous page
