Punishment, Incarceration, and Penal Reform’s Effect on Europe from 1648-1945
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Abolition of Torture Throughout Europe
Throughout Europe torture was slowly abolished durinng the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. England was the first to abolish in 1640, followed by Scotland in 1708, Prussia in 1740, Denmark in 1770, Russia in 1774, Italy in 1786, France in 1789, and Spain in 1808. -
Some Thoughts Concerning Education by John Locke
John Locke's treatise was at the forefront of educational philosophy. Locke criticized role of corporal punishment in education. The new philosophy of the time held that corporal punishment was an inefficient method for enforcing education standards. -
An Essay on Crimes and Punishments by Cesare Beccaria
Beccaria was an Italian philosopher who advocated for legal reform including a ban on torture as well as the death penalty. One of the most influential thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. An English translation included commentary by Voltaire who was influenced immensely by Beccaria. -
The Instructions of Catherine II to the Legislative Commission of 1767
Catherine the Great considered herself an enlightened despot and sought to bring certain liberal practices to Russia. During her rule she abolished criminal torture throughout russia. In 1767 she also created a new code of laws that amongst other things moved to abolish corporal punishment as she believed it to be tyrannical. It was thought that Russia was not socially or intellectually prepared for quite so much forward movement and not much came of her orders. -
Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon
(Illustrated by Willey Reveley)
Bentham began designing his prison while visiting his brother in Krichev, White Russia (Modern day Belarus). Similar to John Locke, Bentham found that corporal punishment was inefficient. In designing this prison he sought "a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example." -
Parole Approved by International Prison Congress
Parole had already been introduced in France during the 1830's as an experimental method. By 1910 it was expanded through the International Prison Congress and was used throughout Europe. By doing so, the number of prisoners held within European prisons was halved.
