Editing Prison reform (section)

======Borstal system======
During 1894–95, [[Herbert Gladstone]]'s Committee on Prisons showed that criminal propensity peaked from the mid-teens to the mid-twenties. He took the view that central government should break the cycle of offending and imprisonment by establishing a new type of reformatory, that was called ''[[Borstal]]'' after the village in [[Kent]] which housed the first one. The movement reached its peak after the first world war when [[Alexander Paterson (penologist)|Alexander Paterson]] became commissioner, delegating authority and encouraging personal responsibility in the fashion of the [[Public school (UK)|English Public school]]: cellblocks were designated as 'houses' by name and had a ''[[housemaster]]''. Cross-country walks were encouraged, and no one ran away. Prison populations remained at a low level until after the second world war when Paterson died and the movement was unable to update itself.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|Rothman|1995|pp=157–161}}</ref>  Some aspects of Borstal found their way into the main prison system, including [[open prison]]s and housemasters, renamed ''assistant governors'' and many Borstal-trained prison officers used their experience in the wider service. But in general the prison system in the twentieth century remained in Victorian buildings which steadily became more and more overcrowded with inevitable results.