Elizabeth Fry And British Prison Reform

Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) was a British female reformer and Quaker lay evangelist of the nineteenth century, she epitomized the reformer inspired by religious motives. This article gives a detailed description on the backgrounds of Fry's prison reform and her ideas concerning education, labor, prison administration and abolishment to the death penalty as well as reduction in cruel punishment.Throughout Fry's life she visited numerous British prisons, submitting many reports which vehemently criticized the terrible conditions in British gaols, amongst Observations on Visiting, Superintendence and Government of Female Prisoners was the most famous. The essay makes an adequate dissertation on Fry's activities of home and abroad, for they are the main parts of her reform efforts, in which the conflict between her and 'Separate System' showed leading effect and progressive principle of Fry's reform. Fry lived all her life to sponsor and push her conclusions on the transformation of the prisoners and that inspired the British societies and government to give the constructive consideration to the prison reforms and penal reforms.People worried about the increase in crime that had started with the Industrial Revolution, it had increased even more after the end of the long wars with France brought extensive unemployment. A combination of the 18^th Century Enlightenment critique of traditional institutions and a humanitarianism largely rooted in Evangelical religion encouraged a fresh look at crime and punishment. Elizabeth Fry is unique in the legacy she left to history: the realization of the need for the transformation of social attitudes towards offenders; the establishment of a professional prison service; educational and training provision within prisons; and rehabilitation services for discharged prisoners. Meanwhile, the class limitation and non-thoroughness caused by Fry's religion and social status make her reform no difference from other reforms in human's history. Nevertheless, The great contributions she made, and the overall influence she had remain an important part of British prison history.