Eschewing Sentimentality?: The Role of Anxiety, Interpersonal Conflict, and Identity in Nineteenth-Century American Penal Reform

• In Event: New Directions in Penal History

Abstract

Early penal reformers were careful to signal to their audiences that they were motivated not so much by "sentimental" feelings as they were by logic and rationality. In practice, however, their work was frequently emotional. This project describes the role of emotion in penal reformers' and prison administrators' work. This included anxiety over the new technology of the prison, heated inter-personal conflicts and competitive claims for credit, and grappling with how their identities became bound up with their work. In uncovering a new dimension to the history of early prisons, this project illustrates the fragility and conflictual nature of early penal reforms.

Author

• Ashley Rubin, University of Toronto