Rise and Reform

John Howard was, and still is, known as the “father” of prison reform. Born in 1726, his views were revolutionary at the time. He advocated for cleaner, safer institutions, separation in prisons according to sex and nature of offence, and proper health care. He also fought to prevent disease and death by things like starvation behind bars. 

Of course, there is still a long way to go. While his work made an impact on the prison system, what we now consider to be clean and safe inside a prison has changed. It is unfortunate that centuries later, there is still so much room for improvement in our prison system.

That is why John Howard’s work is being continued on today, through the John Howard Society. The John Howard Society offers an extensive list of programs and services meant to help rehabilitate people who have or are currently going through the Canadian prison system. For anyone interested, The John Howard Society also has a list of employment opportunities, available here. 

I hope to see a day where these services are no longer needed. The trauma caused by the criminal justice system is unnecessary, and seemingly never ending. There is no good reason that a prison reform battle starting in the 1700’s is still going on today. We still have people dying unnecessary deaths. Soleiman Faqiri, a man I have spoken about a lot on my blog, was murdered in prison by guards after they denied an order from a judge to be moved to a psychiatric facility instead. 

Abuse in prison is preventable. Prison is preventable. 

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