Labour and Discipline in Scottish and English Prisons: Moral Correction, Punishment and Useful Toil

This paper is an analysis of the changing nature of labour and discipline in Scottish and English institutions of confinement from the 16th through the 19th centuries. The analytical framework employed includes a consideration of material, social and ideological forces and is allied to the theoretical perspectives of Marx, Rusche and especially Foucault. The historical evidence presented demonstrates the significance of the demands of capital, Protestant ideology, and the ideals and efforts of penal reformers both in the creation and development of penal institutions and in the shaping of the diverse forms of labour and discipline within them.