Crime and Prisons

Series

Series Name

The March of Time 4th Year

Issue

Issue No.

2

Date Released

1938

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Nazi Conquest - No.1
2. 2Crime and Prisons

Story

Story No. within this Issue

2 / 2

Summary

The March of Time synopsis: The United States has long been waging an unceasing crusade against crime - a crusade to apprehend the lawbreaker and put him safely away behind iron bars. But another kind of crusade is just beginning - a crusade to nip crime in the bud and mend criminal ways before they are beyond repair. With this in mind, American penologists’ chief concern today is the novice in crime. The treatment a youthful offender receives in prison will make or break him. What his fate may be in a Southern chain gang, or what happens to him if he is confined in an overcrowded, disease-ridden prison among hardened criminals, is dramatically portrayed in the March of Time. But the greatest threat to the reformation of a young offender is that he may be forced to serve out his term in mind-rotting idleness. For the past 10 years, a succession of State and Federal laws has caused more and more prison workshops to shut down, and an ever increasing number of prisoners have been left with nothing to keep hands and minds occupied.

To cope with the problem of supplying work for the nation’s 250,000 criminal population the Prison Industries Reorganization Administration - P.I.R.A. - was formed three years ago. The March of Time shows how it was worked in an advisory capacity to 22 states, and in what way the sweeping reforms it recommends are being tried out. Also shown is the rehabilitative technique used in the Federal prison system - a technique generally regarded as ideal. For the criminal beyond reclamation there is one type of prison, and for the man who is a potentially good citizen there is another, which gives him vocational and educational training. But the problem of rehabilitation does not end at the prison gate. The March of Time points out that the public shares with prison officials the final responsibility for an increase in the nation’s crime.

Researcher Comments

This story was included in Vol.4 No.9 of the US edition.

Keywords

Crime; Youth

Written sources

The March of Time Promotional Material   Lobby Card, Used for synopsis

Credits:

Production Co.

Time Inc.