The streets have been watched regularly

The York Penitentiary Society, young working-class women, and the regulation of behaviour in the public spaces of York, c. 1845-1919

Bibliographic Data

ID4348168
AuthorsLaura Harrison (0000-0002-9157-5066, University of the West of England), Laura M Harrison (0000-0003-4440-7753, University of the West of England, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume28
Issue3
Pages457-478
Publication date2019-04-16
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWomen s History Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0961-2025 • E-ISSN: 1747-583X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09612025.2018.1477105
OpenAlexW2800519669
LanguageEN
Citations received2

The York Penitentiary Society, a charitable female reformatory in York, aimed to transform ‘fallen’ women in the city into useful citizens through institutionalisation, domestic training, and moral and religious instruction. The Penitentiary focused on isolating its ‘inmates’ from wider society, but its moral reach extended far beyond the high walls of the Refuge, and the young women confined within. This article examines the York Penitentiary Society, and considers how it acted to police the streets and public spaces of York, and the behaviour of young women who populated them. In addition to adding detail to our understanding of the operation of female reform institutions, this study also adds to our knowledge on the unofficial policing of women’s behaviour in public space, and has significant implications for histories of urban life

Criminology · Institutionalisation · Political science · Politics · Public life · Public space · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Engineering · Gender Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access