“The beginnings were very difficult and, as the reporter confesses “against our will we had to use maximum severity and temporarily relinquish gentle approaches which were then interpreted as weakness.. But in the end we were able to use with our youngsters the correctional educational method followed by our Society in other correctional houses entrusted to our care”.374

After offering an idea of the system adopted by the Society of St. Peter In Chains, Fissiaux dwells on the topic of 'discipline' with all its connotation of the repressive system. “The discipline of the establishment is severe and must be so. It is necessary that everything should remind the detainees that the place they are in is a place of punishment and correction. Starting from this principle, we let no fault go unpunished. At the same time, no virtuous act is left unrewarded”.375 However, also the typical positive educative elements peculiar to the preventive system are highlighted: imitation, work, school, music, religious and moral potential.376

There are abundant tones of moderation and understanding in reference to youthful fragility. The young men to be corrected are referred to as “poor kids, more unfortunate than guilty. As human beings we are accustomed to thinking of them as incorrigible criminals. We have unjust prejudices about them and undeserved contempt for them as “kids who have become victims of the fragility of their age, and the misfortune of their birth”.377

In the second Rapport on the second year of activity we can spot the emergence of some elements which show how close the repressive system is to the preventive system. The director, in fact, intends to show that “Our Society has already obtained, at least partially, the good results you have the right to expect from its zeal and dedication by giving true correctional education to those boys who need to be corrected but with gentleness rather than punishing them or through being harsh”. He also insists on the fact that the majority of the detainees are more unfortunate than guilty and that they have reacted positively to the educational system in use.378

8. De La Salle's preventive pedagogy

Don Bosco had several contacts with the Brothers of the Christian schools, especially during the 1840's. The Brothers, from 1829 on, were running the schools supported by the Mendacità Istruita and from 1833 the municipal schools.379

It might seem problematic that Don Bosco may have had direct knowledge of the pedagogical-spiritual writings of St. John Baptist de La Salle (1651): La conduite des écoles chrétiennes and Meditations pour le temps de la retraite and Meditations sur toutes les dimances et les principal festes de l’année. 380 However, Don Bosco knew that these religious educators were dedicated, like “guardian angels”, to the care of children coming from the world of artisans and humble workers “constantly busy earning a livelihood for themselves and their children”, and therefore unable to follow them up during the

Royaume de Sardaigne présenté à la réunion qui eut lieu le 7 juin 1846 pour la distribution des prix par monsieur

l’abbé Fissiaux., (Turin: Imprimiere Royale 1846) 6-7.

374 Ibid., 10, 13-14.

375 Ibid., 21. In a ‘Rendiconto’ (report) from 1854 (the Brothers of the Congregation of St Peter in Chains were licensed

the year before), given to the chapalin Fr Giuseppe Giuliano, the “Establishment” is presented as an “Institute for

punishing and improving them at the same time” (Calendario generale del Regno pel 1855, anno XXXII), (Turin:

Stamperia dell’Unione Tipografica-Editrice 1855): 137

376 Ch. Fixxiaux, Rapport, 14-21, 27-30.

377 Ibid., 31.

378 Second Rapport sur les résultats obtenus dans la Maison d’éducation correctionnelle pour les jeunes détenus du

Royaume de Sargaigne présenté à la réunion qui eut lieu le 26 septembre 1847 pour la distribution des prix par

monsieur l’abbé Fissiaux, (Turin: Imprimerie Royale 1847) 13.

379 Cf. G. B. Lemoyne,Vita del venerabile servo di Dio Giovanni Bosco, vol 1, (Turin:Libreria Editrice Internazionale

‘Buona Stampa’ 1914) reprinted from 1st edition 1911, 239.

380 The first complete translation of the Méditations of de la Salle is by Serafino Barbaglia FSC, (Rome-Turin: Fratelli

dells Scuole Cristiane 1989).