Prison Ministry


Book Description

Empowering any pastor, educator, or lay leader in doing effective prison ministry by providing a thorough inside-out view of prison life.




Prison/Culture


Book Description

Nearly fifty artists, poets, and activists examine the contemporary prison system through heartrending art and community




Enforcing the Convict Code


Book Description

The author used qualitative data collected in 2005 and 2006 in California to explore how former inmates (men and women) understand and explain prison violence and inmate culture.--Chapter 1.




The Culture of Punishment


Book Description

America is the most punitive nation in the world, incarcerating more than 2.3 million people—or one in 136 of its residents. Against the backdrop of this unprecedented mass imprisonment, punishment permeates everyday life, carrying with it complex cultural meanings. In The Culture of Punishment, Michelle Brown goes beyond prison gates and into the routine and popular engagements of everyday life, showing that those of us most distanced from the practice of punishment tend to be particularly harsh in our judgments. The Culture of Punishment takes readers on a tour of the sites where culture and punishment meet—television shows, movies, prison tourism, and post 9/11 new war prisons—demonstrating that because incarceration affects people along distinct race and class lines, it is only a privileged group of citizens who are removed from the experience of incarceration. These penal spectators, who often sanction the infliction of pain from a distance, risk overlooking the reasons for democratic oversight of the project of punishment and, more broadly, justifications for the prohibition of pain.




Health and Incarceration


Book Description

Over the past four decades, the rate of incarceration in the United States has skyrocketed to unprecedented heights, both historically and in comparison to that of other developed nations. At far higher rates than the general population, those in or entering U.S. jails and prisons are prone to many health problems. This is a problem not just for them, but also for the communities from which they come and to which, in nearly all cases, they will return. Health and Incarceration is the summary of a workshop jointly sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences(NAS) Committee on Law and Justice and the Institute of Medicine(IOM) Board on Health and Select Populations in December 2012. Academics, practitioners, state officials, and nongovernmental organization representatives from the fields of healthcare, prisoner advocacy, and corrections reviewed what is known about these health issues and what appear to be the best opportunities to improve healthcare for those who are now or will be incarcerated. The workshop was designed as a roundtable with brief presentations from 16 experts and time for group discussion. Health and Incarceration reviews what is known about the health of incarcerated individuals, the healthcare they receive, and effects of incarceration on public health. This report identifies opportunities to improve healthcare for these populations and provides a platform for visions of how the world of incarceration health can be a better place.




The Myth of Prison Rape


Book Description

The Myth of Prison Rape provides a nuanced glimpse into the complex sexual dynamics of American prison. Drawing on results from the most comprehensive study of inmate sexuality to date, Mark S. Fleisher and Jessie L. Krienert analyze the intricacies of sexuality and sexual violence in daily inmate life. Pulled from over 500 interviews from male and female high-security inmates, their research assesses inmate perception, belief, opinion, and explanation of their own behavior as it relates directly and indirectly to sexual life and sexual violence. Dynamic case studies and interview excerpts enliven this cultural study of sexuality, safety, and violence in American prisons, and an appendix introduces readers to prison sexual vocabulary.




The Culture of Prison Violence


Book Description

The articles in this collection examine recent research on the causes, prevention and control of prison violence. Experts discuss new work being done on inmate, staff, and management culture, the links between prison and community culture and violence, and identify best practices and ‘what works’ in reducing violence and changing offender behaviour.




Scandinavian Penal History, Culture and Prison Practice


Book Description

This book draws on historical and cross-disciplinary studies to critically examine penal practices in Scandinavia. The Nordic countries are often hailed by international observers as ‘model societies’, with egalitarian welfare policies, low rates of poverty, humane social policies and human rights oriented internal agendas. This book, however, paints a much more nuanced picture of the welfare policies, ideologies and social control in strong centralistic states. Based on extensive new empirical data, leading Nordic and international scholars discuss the relationship between prison conditions in Scandinavia and Scandinavian social policy more generally, and argue that it is not always liberating and constructive to be embraced by a powerful welfare state. This book is essential reading for researchers of state punishment in Scandinavia, and it is highly relevant for anyone interested in the ‘Nordic Model’ of social policy.




Prison Ministry: Understanding Jail and Prison Culture


Book Description

A traveler's guide for Christians to a foreign land where the fields are ripe for harvest.For most Christians, prison culture is like visiting a foreign land, and the thought of ministering behind bars with those incarcerated is an intimidating prospect. Prison Ministry w ill o ffer you t he empowerment you need as a volunteer, chaplain, pastor, or lay leader in doing effective prison ministry.Of the former edition, the late Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries, wrote: "This may well be the definitive book on prison ministry. Fascinating insights about the prison culture and how to reach it. Mandatory reading for everyone incorrections and for Christians who care about the command to visit prison."Providing a thorough "inside-out" view of prison life, Lennie Spitale offers a unique and qualifying vantage for writing about prison culture and prison ministry. As a young man, Spitale was incarcerated several times. Two years after his conversion to Christianity, he began conducting a weekly Bible study in a local jail. This led to full-time prison ministry.Prison Ministry covers areas such as: the emotional challenges of the incarcerated, the environment of fear, the culture of deprivation, friendships, guidelines, dos and don'ts, and many other relevant and essential topics forequipping any individual or church for effective prison ministry.




The Prison of Democracy


Book Description

At publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Built in the 1890s at the center of the nation, Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary was designed specifically to be a replica of the US Capitol Building. But why? The Prison of Democracy explains the political significance of a prison built to mimic one of America’s monuments to democracy. Locating Leavenworth in memory, history, and law, the prison geographically sits at the borders of Indian Territory (1825–1854) and Bleeding Kansas (1854–1864), both sites of contestation over slavery and freedom. Author Sara M. Benson argues that Leavenworth reshaped the design of punishment in America by gradually normalizing state-inflicted violence against citizens. Leavenworth’s peculiar architecture illustrates the real roots of mass incarceration—as an explicitly race- and nation-building system that has been ingrained in the very fabric of US history rather than as part of a recent post-war racial history. The book sheds light on the truth of the painful relationship between the carceral state and democracy in the US—a relationship that thrives to this day.