John Howard Society of Charlotte County
- Corporate body
- [ca.1953]-
The John Howard Society of Charlotte County is a St. Stephen, New Brunswick, based branch of the non-profit charity organization The John Howard Society of Canada, an organization which advocates for jail reform and provides support for current and former prisoners and their families. In its earlier years the association was primarily engaged with advocating for the widespread adoption of a rehabilitation-based philosophy in the design and function of jails in New Brunswick. It also advocated for work camps and projects for all prisoners, the segregation of prisoners according to sex, age, type of crime, and mentality, the psychiatric examination and treatment for sex-offenders, drug addicts, chronic alcoholics, and other prisoners facing mental health issues, the training of all young prisoners in a skill or trade, the improvement of legislation with reference to court procedure and penal administration in accordance with modern principles, and the enforcement of the Juvenile Delinquents Act in all of New Brunswick’s Counties. The society was also directly involved with the care of wives and families of inmates, the encouragement of hobby crafts in jails and correctional institutions, and the reintegration of former inmates into regular society. Although technically non-denominational, the society also considered opportunities to practice prayer and religious periods to be an important part of a prisoner’s process of reform, and that a lack of spirituality in one’s life could lead to crime.
The namesake of this society is John Howard, a prison reform advocate from England who lived from 1726-1790 who is considered the father of prison reform. Although not an advocate for rehabilitation-based prisons, he fought for cleaner and less corrupt prisons in his home country. He became the namesake for many prison reform organizations in several countries. The Canadian history of the John Howard Society begins with a group of church workers in Toronto in 1867. Their mission was to bring spiritual help to prisoners in a local jail, and in 1874 they formed a small organization called the Prisoners Aid Association of Toronto after recognizing that the prisoners needed more than spiritual aid. In 1915 this association became inactive as interest dwindled, but it was reactivated in 1929 by a citizens group lead by Toronto’s chief police General Draper. General Draper believed that the work of police officers was being undermined by the circumstances facing prisoners when they were released. The revived association of volunteers provided practical help to ex-prisoners with housing, clothing, and employment. In 1931 a similar organization was formed in British Columbia by Reverend J. Dinnage Hobden under the name of the John Howard Society. In 1946 the association in Ontario changed its name to the John Howard Society of Ontario, and between 1947 and 1960 most of the other Canadian Provinces formed their own John Howard Societies. The John Howard Society of New Brunswick was formed in 1953, with the Charlotte County branch being formed sometime shortly after.
Currently the John Howard Society of Charlotte County is a satellite office of the John Howard Society of New Brunswick’s Saint John branch. Today the organization more heavily emphasizes the social and skill development of prisoners and ex-prisoners, public education, government policy consultation, and research for policy development.