The Pains Of Imprisonment

What are the primary constituents of stress in prison, and how can it be ameliorated? The specific conditions that create stress -- from the initial loss of freedom, to overcrowding, victimization and riots -- are described and analyzed. The effects of prison on specific populations: women, minorities, adolescents, and parolees, are also researched. Recommendations for long-term policy are made for maximizing the environmental resources of the prison, and improving classification and treatment. `...highly recommended for all professional and academic libraries. It is suitable for both upper-division undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of stress, psychology, penology, sociology, and criminal justice.' -- Choi

This hard-hitting book challenges current prison practice and points to ways psychologists and policy makers can strive for a more humane justice system.

Is prison a humane form of punishment and an effective means of rehabilitation? Are current prison policies, such as shifting resources away from rehabilitation toward housing more offenders, improving the safety and lives of incarcerated populations? Considering that many Canadians have served time, are currently incarcerated, or may one day be incarcerated–and will be released back into society–it is essential for the functioning and betterment of communities that we understand the realities that shape the prison experience for adult male offenders. Surviving Incarceration reveals the unnecessary and omnipresent violence in prisons, the heterogeneity of the prisoner population, and the realities that different prisoners navigate in order to survive. Ricciardelli draws on interviews with almost sixty former federal prisoners to show how their criminal convictions, masculinity, and sexuality determined their social status in prison and, in consequence, their potential for victimization. The book outlines the modern "inmate code" that governs prisoner behaviours, the formal controls put forth by the administration, the dynamics that shape sex-offender experiences of incarceration, and the personal growth experiences of many prisoners as they cope with incarceration.

This concise and engaging book presents a critical perspective on the correctional system and the process of incarceration in the United States. Fleury-Steiner and Longazel emphasize the magnitude of mass imprisonment in the United States, especially of people of color, not by objective statistics and trends, but by the voices and lived experiences of individuals who live their harsh conditions on a daily basis. This is an ideal book for courses in corrections, social problems, criminology, and prisoner re-entry.

The papers in this collection examine the effects of stress on prison inmates and staff, its relationship to overcrowding and victimization, the differential impact of stress on subpopulations, coping strategies, etc.

The Society of Captives, first published in 1958, is a classic of modern criminology and one of the most important books ever written about prison. Gresham Sykes wrote the book at the height of the Cold War, motivated by the world's experience of fascism and communism to study the closest thing to a totalitarian system in American life: a maximum security prison. His analysis calls into question the extent to which prisons can succeed in their attempts to control every facet of life--or whether the strong bonds between prisoners make it impossible to run a prison without finding ways of "accommodating" the prisoners. Re-released now with a new introduction by Bruce Western and a new epilogue by the author, The Society of Captives will continue to serve as an indispensable text for coming to terms with the nature of modern power.

This book analyses the experiences of prisoners in England & Wales sentenced when relatively young to very long life sentences (with minimum terms of fifteen years or more). Based on a major study, including almost 150 interviews with men and women at various sentence stages and over 300 surveys, it explores the ways in which long-term prisoners respond to their convictions, adapt to the various challenges that they encounter and re-construct their lives within and beyond the prison. Focussing on such matters as personal identity, relationships with family and friends, and the management of time, the book argues that long-term imprisonment entails a profound confrontation with the self. It provides detailed insight into how such prisoners deal with the everyday burdens of their situation, feelings of injustice, anger and shame, and the need to find some sense of hope, control and meaning in their lives. In doing so, it exposes the nature and consequences of the life-changing terms of imprisonment that have become increasingly common in recent years.

Written by leading prison scholars from the Nordic countries as well as selected researchers from the English-speaking world 'looking in', this book explores and discusses the Nordic jurisdictions as contexts for the specific penal policies and practices that may or may not be described as the 'exception from the rule'.

By quadrupling the number of people behind bars in two decades, the United States has become the world leader in incarceration. Much has been written on the men who make up the vast majority of the nation’s two million inmates. But what of the women they leave behind? Doing Time Together vividly details the ways that prisons shape and infiltrate the lives of women with husbands, fiancés, and boyfriends on the inside. Megan Comfort spent years getting to know women visiting men at San Quentin State Prison, observing how their romantic relationships drew them into contact with the penitentiary. Tangling with the prison’s intrusive scrutiny and rigid rules turns these women into “quasi-inmates,” eroding the boundary between home and prison and altering their sense of intimacy, love, and justice. Yet Comfort also finds that with social welfare weakened, prisons are the most powerful public institutions available to women struggling to overcome untreated social ills and sustain relationships with marginalized men. As a result, they express great ambivalence about the prison and the control it exerts over their daily lives. An illuminating analysis of women caught in the shadow of America’s massive prison system, Comfort’s book will be essential for anyone concerned with the consequences of our punitive culture.

Incarcerating Motherhood explores how initial short period in prisons can negatively impact mothers and their children. We have much yet to understand about the enduring harms caused by first time incarceration, especially for minimal time periods and for mothers with dependent children. With large numbers of female prisoners currently incarcerated for short periods in England and Wales (either on short sentences or remand), many of whom are primary caregivers, this book asks: what kind of impact does this imprisonment has on both parent and child in the long term? Based on original research, the experiences of sixteen mothers are presented to voice the material, physical and emotional consequences of short-term imprisonment. The book explores to what extent these mothers lose their sense of identity in a short space of time, whether this continues to affect them post-custody, and what level of support they are provided during and post-custody. This book also explores what bearing the initial separation and the care provided during the mother’s absence will have on their children’s lives, as well as whether the affects of imprisonment on the mother also increase the vulnerability of her children. Incarcerating Motherhood provides a platform for readers to hear how a ‘short sharp shock’ can cause enduring harms to an already vulnerable group in society and how even short-term imprisonment have long-lasting and multi-dimensional consequences.