In Egypt, a reformatory for juvenile offenders began to develop under the British occupation. This institution, which was more educative and less punitive than prisons, was initially established to admit a specific category of juvenile offenders. Therefore, prisons remained the primary place for most juvenile inmates even after the establishment of the reformatory. Moreover, the re-introduction of corporal punishment for juveniles strengthened the punitive character of treating juvenile offenders. After enacting the Juvenile Vagrant Law, the reformatory was charged with treating juvenile vagrants and simultaneously faced overcrowding of inmates. In the interwar period, the reformatory system rapidly developed in terms of accommodation and function. However, it was blamed for the inefficacy in rehabilitating juveniles. Some improvements in the form of a reward system and vocational training were implemented, but they had little effect. Finally, juvenile reformatories malfunctioned when they assumed responsibility as the sole facility for treating juvenile offenders in the late 1930s.

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