Introduction

This chapter provides a background of the Mettray Agricultural Colony for Boys. The institution was founded by Frédéric Demetz, a Parisian magistrate. Demetz aimed to socialize criminal youth through agricultural work, basic elementary schooling, religious indoctrination, and strict military discipline. The chapter explains through the historical monograph of Mettray how it is considered the most venerated carceral institution of its time. It also provides an introduction to how power was deployed and explains ambitions that were connected to power, and how power was experienced, or in some cases resisted by prisoners. Further, it highlights the ways some young men attempted to circumvent disciplinary control.