In the 1830s, prison life was brutal. The young, old, female, male, and even children were confined several to a cell in appalling conditions. In the view of prison reformers, this system  made inmates worse instead of reforming them into better citizens. Beginning in England, such reformers as John Howard proposed a new system based around the three goals of “silence, supervision, and security.” Philosophers, engineers, and reformers introduced new prison designs based on the belief that natural light and space for reflection could transform prisons into places of reform.