A place where people (especially young offenders) are sent to be reformed or rehabilitated; also describing something meant to improve behavior.
From Latin 'reformare' (to form again, reform) plus the suffix '-atory' (place or thing). The institution emerged in the 1800s as an alternative to adult prisons.
Reformatories were supposed to be gentler than prisons and focused on rehabilitation—but many became just as harsh, which is why modern criminal justice systems are moving toward actual rehabilitation instead!
Reformatories were often sex-segregated institutions that enforced strict gender norms, particularly punitive toward girls deemed 'morally deficient.' The term's history entangles carceral control with gendered surveillance.
When discussing reformatories, center the lived experiences and resistance of incarcerated youth—particularly girls and LGBTQ+ youth whose experiences are least documented.
["detention facility","youth facility","carceral institution"]
Girls in reformatories resisted systems designed to control their sexuality and labor. Historians like Cheryl Hicks have documented their agency, survival strategies, and organizing—work long ignored in institutional histories.
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