Apparently a private charitable welfare organisation, the Osborne Association in the late 1930s and early 1940s sent teams of researchers around the USA to investigate the situation in a large number of reformatories.

The resulting reports were mostly fairly critical from a humanitarian point of view, which makes one wonder quite why the reformatory managements allowed the investigators access in the first place.

The association eventually published summaries of the reports in successive editions of the Handbook of American Institutions for Delinquent Juveniles. It is from them that our extracts are taken.

For each reformatory the report describes, along with much else, the disciplinary regime in force, including details of punishments.

• Iowa: Training School, Eldora
• North Carolina: Jackson Training School, Concord
• North Dakota: State Training School, Mandan
• Tennessee: State Training and Agricultural School for Boys, Pikeville
• Virginia: Manual Labor School for Colored Boys, Hanover
• Washington State: Training School, Chehalis