Prison and Asylum Reform

Salem Choquette & Laura Fischer

Why This Movement Emerged

This movement emerged because Dorothea Dix agreed to teach sunday school at a jail, and when she went, there were people chained to chairs, and kids charged with petty theft jailed with adults charged for murder. She was also upset with how the mentally ill were being treated. She with to hundreds of jails all around Massachusetts to see what was really going on. Once she got all of her facts together, she went to lawmakers.

The Goals of this Reform

Dorothea Dix wanted the mentally ill to be put in private asylums where they could get the care they needed, instead of being chained to chairs and put in prison. She also wanted for people that were put in jail to be separated according to their crime. That way there weren't kids charged with petty crimes jailed with adults charged with murder.

Relevant People

Dorothea Dix efforts towards the mentally ill and prisoners helped create institutions in several Nations by changing peoples perception of theses populations through her person experiences.
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Lawmakers voted for the building and separation of the asylums for the mentally ill. The persective of the mentally ill changed across the United States and Europe after the realization that they needed care.