Penitentiaries without Penitents: Towards a New Theory of Moral Correction

It is humbling as I contemplate my own role as Morals Tutor to America's wealthiest families, and the trust placed in me by Society, to contemplate the history of the Penitentiary. First started by Quakers in the 1700s, the Penitentiary is now a thriving business but contains few penitents. Reform, whether in Reform School, the State Pen, a For-Profit Prison, or in Private Morals Tutorials is difficult. We are dealing with the Old Adam in us, or the Old Eve. I am not suggesting we go back to cropping ears, the pillory, the whipping post, or the branding of foreheads, but clearly whatever we are doing to reform people is not working as well as it might.  In many ways, I envy the  Jailers, at least their charges can be kept in one place. Mine are flying all over the world on private jets.