CHAPTER V THE REFORM SCHOOL

I entered the reform school when a few months over sixteen years of age. The following twenty-eight months in this institution marked the crucial period of my life. The things that I found in the school, the environment, the indiscriminate mixture of the boys, regardless of their ages or evident depravity—all these steered¹ me toward the rocks of a wretched career. I entered the school not altogether bad, and there was still a possible chance of making me see the error of my way. I was at the impressionable age, and I believe, as I look back, that proper association, coupled with a correct method of teaching, would have molded my career into a different channel. If I had found sympathy and understanding in the teachers, if I had been given the opportunity[Pg 31] of mixing with boys knowing less about crime than I did; if I had found an honest desire on the part of the teachers to bring about reform, then my later life might have been different. I found none of these things. There were certain of the officials who had the qualifications needed, but they were of minor² importance in the life of the institution and didn’t count.

The school was situated³ in the center of the State, about thirty miles from the scene of my former activities. Consisting of about a dozen buildings, they made an impressive sight as one viewed them from their front. There was no wall about its boundaries, nothing but the level expanse of cultivated fields.

It was an afternoon of an early autumn as I alighted from the conveyance⁴ which had brought the guard and me from the station. The first impression I received on viewing the collection of buildings was that of a student looking for the first time on the school which is to be his Alma Mater. Had not the judge told me that here I[Pg 32] would find friends and an education to fit me for the later life? The fact that I had been convicted of a criminal offense⁵ made no difference in these impressions. I was like a curious student, anxious to know what the years would bring, and what possibilities the institution held. I entered the office conducted by my guard. He removed my shackles⁶ and I stood before the head of the institution. He greeted me kindly⁷, gave me some words of advice and turned me over to one of the clerks.

Just a word here about the superintendent⁸: he was a man nearing, I suppose, his sixtieth year. He had held his position for ten or twelve years, and to all intents and purposes was an ideal man for the head of such an institution. In all my dealings with him I found him an honorable and square man. In after months he used the lash⁹ on me several times, and always because he thought the offense warranted it, but never in a brutal¹⁰ manner. His great fault lay in not giving the institution his personal supervision¹¹, as he should have done. This duty[Pg 33] he left to the assistant superintendent, satisfying the conscience of duty done by an occasional round of the cottages and shops. Punishments he delegated usually to the same assistant superintendent. The law said and directed, I have since informed myself, that only the superintendent had this power. This assistant superintendent was a man of the Brockway type, a cold, cruel specimen¹² of a man, a martinet¹³ rather than a disciplinarian. All the wrongs ever complained of there were traceable to him—of him more anon.

The institution was run on the cottage system. There were several cottages—eight, I believe, in all—scattered about the grounds, sheltering a group of from forty to seventy boys in each. These collections of boys in groups were called families. It was the aim of the officials so to group the inmates¹⁴ that each family would include boys of nearly the same age. This method was soon found impractical¹⁵, and at the time I entered there was as much as eight years difference in the ages of the boys making up[Pg 34] the family to which I was assigned. This grouping has been one of the vicious faults of the reform-school systems of this country, and still exists in some of the schools of the present day.

I also found that some of the boys were grouped regardless of type or character. I found dependents, boys absolutely guiltless of crime, whose only fault lay in the unfortunate fact that they had lost their parents, mingling¹⁶ and coming into daily contact with boys of a naturally depraved nature. You can imagine what five years of this association would mean to such boys. These are no isolated¹⁷ instances. In the school at the time when I was there I know there were at least a hundred committed because of lack of homes, and these boys, through no fault of their own, were thrown by the State into an environment of degeneracy and crime. Is it surprising that the majority chose the underworld for a living?

I have read a lot about the percentage of reformations some of the reform schools of[Pg 35] this country are making yearly. To be frank, I doubt it. I very much doubt the accuracy of the statistics. Seventy-five per cent of the professional crooks¹⁸ of the country are reform-school graduates. In my belief it is a natural evolution.

1 steered   

v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
• The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

4 conveyance   

n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具

参考例句：

• Bicycles have become the most popular conveyance for Chinese people.自行车已成为中国人最流行的代步工具。
• Its another,older,usage is a synonym for conveyance.它的另一个更古老的习惯用法是作为财产转让的同义词使用。

5 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

6 shackles   

手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊

参考例句：

• a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
• The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。

7 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

8 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

9 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

10 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

11 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

12 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

13 martinet   

n.要求严格服从纪律的人

参考例句：

• They discover that the new teacher is a martinet.他们发现新来的老师非常严格。
• He's a retired Lieutenant Colonel and a bit of a martinet.他是个退役中校，有点军人作风。

14 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。

16 mingling   

adj.混合的

参考例句：

• There was a spring of bitterness mingling with that fountain of sweets. 在这个甜蜜的源泉中间，已经掺和进苦涩的山水了。
• The mingling of inconsequence belongs to us all. 这场矛盾混和物是我们大家所共有的。

17 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

18 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》