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).

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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, trough 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.

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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 beter results.

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A well-known example is the British borstal.

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