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‘Spending my youth between four walls’: experiences of time in Belgian reform schools, 1900–1960

dc.contributor.authorNys, Laura
dc.contributor.editorJackson, Louise
dc.contributor.editorJohnston, Gordon
dc.coverage.spatialBelgiumen_US
dc.coverage.temporal20th centuryen_US
dc.coverage.temporal1900-1960en_US
dc.date2025-10-16
dc.date.accessioned2025-12-27T20:59:56Z
dc.date.available2025-12-27T20:59:56Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.identifier.citationNys, L. (2025). ‘Spending my youth between four walls’: experiences of time in Belgian reform schools, 1900–1960. In: Social History, 50(4), pp. 427–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/03071022.2025.2545075en_US
dc.identifier.issnISSN: 0307-1022
dc.identifier.issne-ISSN: 1470-1200
dc.identifier.urihttps://orfeo.belnet.be/handle/internal/14508
dc.descriptionUsing the personal correspondence of young people in detention, this article explores different meanings of time in Belgian reform schools between 1900 and 1960. The first section examines how youngsters and their families conceptualised time and age in petitions for release. With the establishment of the Children’s Court in 1912, the length of confinement in a reform school was not decided during the trial, but became dependent on the minor’s behaviour during the re-education process. This influenced how youngsters and their families framed their requests for release. Next, I analyse how juveniles experienced time during their confinement. The strict regulation of time is inherent to disciplinary institutions, defined by detailed timetables and influenced by both calendar time and seasonal time. Many juveniles defined the passing of time as a countdown towards the day of release. Lastly, I explore how social and historical views on youth influenced the juveniles’ detention experience and how they used their youthful age, as opposed to childhood, as an argument to negotiate changes to the reformatory conditions. Overall, this article contributes to our understandings of juveniles’ experiences of time during confinement, their views on age and how the two were intertwined.en_US
dc.languageengen_US
dc.publisherTaylor & Francisen_US
dc.title‘Spending my youth between four walls’: experiences of time in Belgian reform schools, 1900–1960en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.subject.frascatiHistory and Archaeologyen_US
dc.audienceScientificen_US
dc.subject.freeyouthen_US
dc.subject.freereform schoolen_US
dc.subject.freejuvenile delinquencyen_US
dc.subject.freeexperienceen_US
dc.subject.freetimeen_US
dc.source.titleSocial Historyen_US
dc.source.volume50en_US
dc.source.issue4en_US
dc.source.page427–444en_US
dc.relation.projectThis work was supported by the Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) and the award of the Herman Diederiks Prize (IAHCCJ and Fondation de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme.en_US
dc.relation.projectOUTLAW - Outsiders and the Law. Uncovering Criminal Justice Trajectories in Nineteenth-Century Belgiumen_US
Orfeo.peerreviewedYesen_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1080/03071022.2025.2545075
dc.relation.belspo-projectOUTLAW - Outsiders and the Law. Uncovering Criminal Justice Trajectories in Nineteenth-Century Belgiumen_US


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