Reformatory
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.
*
Boy's Republic*
Youth detention center*
Idaho Juvenile Detention Centers
