Guards Imprisoned


Book Description




The Prisoner in His Palace


Book Description

In the tradition of In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song, this haunting, insightful, and surprisingly intimate portrait of Saddam Hussein provides “a brief, but powerful, meditation on the meaning of evil and power” (USA TODAY). The “captivating” (Military Times) The Prisoner in His Palace invites us to take a journey with twelve young American soldiers in the summer of 2006. Shortly after being deployed to Iraq, they learn their assignment: guarding Saddam Hussein in the months before his execution. Living alongside, and caring for, their “high value detainee and regularly transporting him to his raucous trial, many of the men begin questioning some of their most basic assumptions—about the judicial process, Saddam’s character, and the morality of modern war. Although the young soldiers’ increasingly intimate conversations with the once-feared dictator never lead them to doubt his responsibility for unspeakable crimes, the men do discover surprising new layers to his psyche that run counter to the media’s portrayal of him. Woven from firsthand accounts provided by many of the American guards, government officials, interrogators, scholars, spies, lawyers, family members, and victims, The Prisoner in His Palace shows two Saddams coexisting in one person: the defiant tyrant who uses torture and murder as tools, and a shrewd but contemplative prisoner who exhibits surprising affection, dignity, and courage in the face of looming death. In this thought-provoking narrative, Saddam, known as the “man without a conscience,” gets many of those around him to examine theirs. “A singular study exhibiting both military duty and human compassion” (Kirkus Reviews), The Prisoner in His Palace grants us “a behind-the-scenes look at history that’s nearly impossible to put down…a mesmerizing glimpse into the final moments of a brutal tyrant’s life” (BookPage).




Routledge Revivals: Guards Imprisoned (1989)


Book Description

First published in 1989, Guards Imprisoned provides an in-depth look into the work and working life of prison guards as they perceive and experience it. The author, who was a teacher at Auburn Prison, New York, discovered that little was known about the guard’s perceptions of his "place" in the prison community and set out to explore the dynamics of this key correctional occupation from the perspective of those who do it. The raw data was provided by over 160 hours of interviews with guards and is presented in the order of a "natural history" — from their prerecruitment images of prison to the search for satisfaction as experienced guards. The book also includes a follow-up with the officers who were originally interviewed in 1976, assessing patterns of change and stability in their attitudes and behaviors. The Auburn Correctional Facility (renamed from Auburn Prison in 1970) was the second state prison in New York, the site of the first execution by electric chair in 1890, and the namesake of the famed "Auburn System" replicated across the country, in which people worked in groups during the day, were housed in solitary confinement at night, and lived in total silence. The facility is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its groundbreaking in 2016.




Guards Imprisoned


Book Description




American Prison


Book Description

An enraging, necessary look at the private prison system, and a convincing clarion call for prison reform.” —NPR.org New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2018 * One of President Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2018 * Winner of the 2019 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize * Winner of the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism * Winner of the 2019 RFK Book and Journalism Award * A New York Times Notable Book A ground-breaking and brave inside reckoning with the nexus of prison and profit in America: in one Louisiana prison and over the course of our country's history. In 2014, Shane Bauer was hired for $9 an hour to work as an entry-level prison guard at a private prison in Winnfield, Louisiana. An award-winning investigative journalist, he used his real name; there was no meaningful background check. Four months later, his employment came to an abrupt end. But he had seen enough, and in short order he wrote an exposé about his experiences that won a National Magazine Award and became the most-read feature in the history of the magazine Mother Jones. Still, there was much more that he needed to say. In American Prison, Bauer weaves a much deeper reckoning with his experiences together with a thoroughly researched history of for-profit prisons in America from their origins in the decades before the Civil War. For, as he soon realized, we can't understand the cruelty of our current system and its place in the larger story of mass incarceration without understanding where it came from. Private prisons became entrenched in the South as part of a systemic effort to keep the African-American labor force in place in the aftermath of slavery, and the echoes of these shameful origins are with us still. The private prison system is deliberately unaccountable to public scrutiny. Private prisons are not incentivized to tend to the health of their inmates, or to feed them well, or to attract and retain a highly-trained prison staff. Though Bauer befriends some of his colleagues and sympathizes with their plight, the chronic dysfunction of their lives only adds to the prison's sense of chaos. To his horror, Bauer finds himself becoming crueler and more aggressive the longer he works in the prison, and he is far from alone. A blistering indictment of the private prison system, and the powerful forces that drive it, American Prison is a necessary human document about the true face of justice in America.




Jailed for Freedom


Book Description




Discretion, Community, and Correctional Ethics


Book Description

Some two million Americans are in jail or in prison. Except for the occasional exposZ, what happens to them is hidden from the rest of us. Is it possible to develop and instill a professional ethic for prison personnel that, in partnership with formal regulatory constraints, will mediate relations among officers, staff, and inmates, or are the failures of imprisonment as an ethically-constrained institution so deeply etched into its structure that no professional ethic is possible? The contributors to this volume struggle with this central question and its broader and narrower ramifications. Some argue that despite the problems facing the practice of incarceration as punishment, a professional ethic for prison officers and staff can be constructed and implemented. Others, however, despair of imprisonment and even punishment, and reach instead for alternative ways of healing the personal and communal breaches constituted by crime. The result is a provocative contribution to practical and professional ethics.




A Sliver of Light


Book Description

Three Americans captured by Iranian forces and held in captivity for years reveal, for the first time, the full story of their imprisonment and fight for freedom.




SNI


Book Description




Encyclopedia of American Prisons


Book Description

Original essays by corrections experts The United States has the lightest incarceration rate in the world and crime is one of the major driving forces of political discourse throughout the country. Information about penal institutions, imprisonment, and prisoners is important to everyone, from judges on the bench to citizens on the street. Now for the first time, a comprehensive reference work presents a full overview of incarceration in America. The Encyclopedia features original essays by leading U.S. corrections experts, who offer historical perspectives, insights into how and why the present prison system developed, where we are today, and where we are likely to be in the future. Every important aspect of American prisons is covered, from the handling of convicts with AIDS to juvenile delinquents behind bars, from boot camps to life without parole, from racial conflict to sexual exploitation. Features more than 160 signed articles More than 160 signed articles by recognized authorities are presented alphabetically by topic. The articles, ranging from 1,000 to 6,000 words, provide an overview of each subject and include a selective bibliography. The coverage introduces readers to individuals noted for their work with prisons (James Bennett, Dorothea Dix, Howard Gill); facilities renowned for setting precedents (Walnut Street Jail, Alcatraz, Marion); current policy, procedure, and program-oriented descriptions (contraband, boot camps, classification, technology); concise discussions of current prison issues (prisoners' rights, gangs, visits by the children of incarcerated women). Frequently the articles chart the historical evolution of a subject area, explore current issues, and predict future trends. Discusses vital issues The Encyclopedia also surveys and analyzes policies and procedures used in the past, such as chain gangs, building tenders, and Sacred Straight programs, as well as legislation that has shaped prison policy (such as the Ashurst-Summers Act and the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act). Offering a wealth of useful facts, this important new reference work contains a comprehensive name and subject index, internal cross-references, and a chronology of important events in prison history. The coverage encompasses historical and contemporary aspects of correctional institutions in the United States, discusses vital issues, and reports on the latest reaching findings. Photos of notable people and facilities accompany the text. This unique work fills a substantial reference need. Government officials, librarians, teachers, students, and professionals working within the corrections field will the coverage invaluable.