3 November 1921: It is right to ask why an inmate committed suicide and others tried to escape from a borstal which opened just two months agoDuring the two months in which the convict prison at Portland has been used as a Borstal Institution for juvenile criminals there contain been six attempts at escape and one suicide. Now a fresh attempt at suicide,fortunately frustrated, has been reported, and the demand for an inquiry into the cause of these tragedies will be rightly repeated.
We publish nowadays an interview with the secretary of the Prisons Commissioners in which the official view is stated. It is not generally disputed that the Borstal blueprint has been successful. Its appeal to self-respect in young offenders and its widening system of privileges and responsibilities contain their roots in reason as well as in humanity. Certainly such treatment whether properly applied is an obvious improvement on the inflexible routine and drudgery of the common prison. whether not the best it is at least a better way.
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Source: theguardian.com