Who was Dorothea Dix and why was she important?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Dorothea Dix was a humanitarian, a teacher, and a penal and insane asylum reformer who, after 4 years of study of prisons, jails, and almshouses in northeast and Midwestern states, wrote the book Remarks on Prisons and Prison Discipline in the United States, in 1843 (reprinted in 1845 and 1967). The data for her book were assembled from multiple observations at prisons; conversations and correspondence with staff, wardens, and inmates in prisons; and a review of prisons’ annual reports. Dix tended to prefer the Pennsylvania model over the New York because she thought inmates benefited from separation from others. However, she forcefully argued that both prison models that had promised so much in terms of reform for inmates, were in fact abject failures in that regard. She found these and most prisons to be understaffed, overcrowded, and with inept leadership that changed much too often. She argued against the long sentences for minor offenses that she found in prisons of the day (e.g., Richmond, Virginia; Columbus, Ohio; Concord, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island) and the disparity in sentencing from place to place. She thought such sentences were not only unjust, but that they led to insubordination by inmates and staff who recognized the arbitrary nature of the justice system. On the other hand, in her study of prisons she found that the pardoning power was used too often, and this again led, she thought, to less trust in the just and fair nature of the system and to insubordination of its inmates. Dix also remarked on the quality and availability of food and water for inmates in early correctional facilities. She found the food to be adequate in most places, except Sing Sing where there was no place to dine at the time of the second edition of her book (1845), and the water inadequate in most places except the Pennsylvania prisons where it was piped into all of the cells. Her comments on the health, heating, clothing, cleanliness, and sanity of inmates were detailed, also, by institution, and indicated that though there were recurrent problems with these issues in prisons of the time, some prisons (i.e., Eastern Penitentiary) did more than others to alleviate miseries by changing the diet, providing adequate clothing, and making warm water for washing available to inmates.