Prison Reform Research Articles

We Are Not Slaves: State Violence, Coerced Labor, and Prisoners' Rights in Postwar America by Robert T. Chase

Reviewed by: We Are Not Slaves: State Violence, Coerced Labor, and Prisoners' Rights in Postwar America by Robert T. Chase Paul M. Lucko We Are Not Slaves: State Violence, Coerced Labor, and Prisoners' Rights in Postwar America. By Robert T. Chase. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020. Pp. 544. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.) A rich body of scholarship has emerged in recent years that examines the historical roots of mass incarceration in this country. Robert Chase's We Are Not Slaves joins Robert Perkinson's Texas Tough (Metropolitan, 2010) and Ethan Blue's Doing Time in the Depression (New York University Press, 2012) as the latest in a genre of critical works that focus on Texas prisons that evolved from post-bellum slave plantations to modern military style disciplinary units. Different from other Texas prison studies, We Are Not Slaves considers the issue of sexuality within a total institution. Partly as a result of widespread negative publicity surrounding homosexual "perversion" (49) among state prisoners during the 1940s, the institution's governing board [End Page 240] hired a new director, O. B. Ellis, who, with increased legislative appropriations, constructed cells in place of crude dormitories, or "tanks," on the vast prison agricultural lands. Ellis also embarked upon an ambitious reform program that transformed the long-neglected penal plantations into one of the state's premier agribusiness entities. Ellis and his successor, George Beto, proved especially adept at promoting Texas prisons as symbols of a modern South. Ironically, however, instead of preventing homosexual behavior, the cell blocks increasingly fell under the control of primarily White trusty prisoners, known as "building tenders," who were permitted to supervise and physically punish other prisoners and engage in a "sex trade [that] provided building tenders the unofficial . . . power to rape other prisoners and buy and sell other prisoners' bodies" (125) through human trafficking. Much of the prisoners' rights litigation that culminated in the Ruiz v. Estelle case, which declared that the Texas prison system violated inmates' constitutional rights, sought to curb the power of the male building tenders and a lesser number of female key girls and row tenders. While other studies have attributed the success of Ruiz anda national prisoners' rights movement to the willingness of federal judges to abandon a long-standing "hands-off" approach to such lawsuits, Chase places the prisoners, who courageously challenged brutal and vindictive administrators, at the forefront of the prison reform movement. Inspired by nationwide social movements both inside and outside of prison walls beginning in the 1960s, ethnically diverse coalitions persisted until Federal Judge William Wayne Justice ruled in 1980 that the total conditions of confinement in Texas correctional facilities constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Although We Are Not Slaves devotes considerable space to David Ruiz and Fred Cruz, Chase also elevates lesser known prisoners, such as Martha Quinlan, Allen Lamar, Johnny Swift, Salvador Gonzales, Frank Leahy, Eddie Ward, Lee Otis John-son, Ray Hill, Al Slaton, and Lawrence Pope, to a heroic status for their contributions to the movement that toppled the system of "modern day slavery" (299). The book includes copious endnotes and a deep bibliography containing an extensive list of interviews that Chase and other researchers conducted with participants in the Texas prisoners' movement. While the author's title and principle thesis accentuate "plantation slavery discourse" (327), he does not directly confront the Thirteenth Amendment's paradoxical clause that permits slavery as punishment for crime. Acknowledging that Judge Justice "did not take up the language of the prisoners' slave discourse and never once referred to Texas prisoners as slaves nor the prison system as a plantation" (328), Chase concludes that the prisoners' movement ended penal slavery but failed to avert "a massive [End Page 241] prison building program that advanced Texas as the nation's largest carceral state" (12). All in all, this is an outstanding work that will provoke discussion and undoubtedly inspire other studies as this country seeks solutions to problems that stem from the nation's experience with incarceration. [End Page 242] Paul M. Lucko Murray State University Copyright © 2020 The Texas State Historical Association

Participation of local self-government bodies in the implementation of the penitentiary policy of the Russian State in the sixteenth century

the paper analyzes the role and importance of the local government in the implementation of the penitentiary policy of the Russian state. Over the period of its existence the penitentiary system of the Czarist Russia remained decentralized. Only because of the prison reform of 1879, the all-Russian body of governance the penitentiary system, the Main Prison Administration, was established. In such circumstances, local government and self-government bodies played a key role in supporting the work of penal institutions.

From Mass Incarceration to Mass Coercion

From the mid-1960s to the late 2000s, the number of people locked in U.S. prisons and jails, and forced onto parole or probation, increased from less than eight hundred thousand to more than seven million. From the beginning, this explosive growth, known commonly as mass incarceration, has been about containing, stigmatizing, and exploiting the poorest sectors of the working class. While an important prison reform movement has been underway for many years, private forces have attempted to co-opt this movement and have implemented and profited from alternative forms of mass coercion proliferating throughout society.

“Living More Through Knowing More”: College Education in Prison Classrooms

A growing national focus on prison reform has led to a resurgence of interest in carceral education. However, and although college education prison is different from college education in the community, relatively little scholarship has explored why or how these variations exist, what they mean, or how they have changed over time. The present paper aims to help fill this gap, exploring the significance of this context for adult learning. I ask: how does the context of a prison shape classroom dynamics and student learning? In answering the question, I employ qualitative and ethnographic methods that focus on giving voice to the perspective of the student-inmates themselves. I find that the isolated and oppressive characteristics of the prison can, paradoxically, offer unique opportunities for learning and scholarly achievement among incarcerated students. The paper’s findings invite reflection about the types of educational strategies often employed in prisons, and provide baseline data on some important social dynamics within prison classrooms.

Reflections on Representing Incarcerated People with Disabilities: Ableism in Prison Reform Litigation

Over the last five decades, advocates have fought for and secured constitutional prohibitions challenging solitary confinement, including ending the placement and prolonged isolation of individuals with psychiatric disabilities in solitary confinement. Yet, despite the valiant efforts of this courageous movement to protect the rights of incarcerated people with disabilities through litigation, the legal regime protecting these rights reflects a troubling paradigm: ableism. Ableism is a complex system of cultural, political, economic, and social practices that facilitate, construct, or reinforce the subordination of people with disabilities in a given society. In this Essay I argue that current Eighth Amendment jurisprudence in prison conditions of confinement cases in some ways requires lawyers to engage in ableism to protect their clients from harsh and inhumane treatment. The complexity of this arrangement — as between protecting and expanding the rights of people with disabilities and reinforcing practices that facilitate their exclusion and subordination — is both a cause and effect of ableism, particularly in the area of Eighth Amendment jurisprudence. Though entrenched in our legal institutions, the overrepresentation of people with disabilities in the criminal legal system calls for a new approach to the representation of these individuals. Toward that end, this Essay proposes a series of interventions in both law and professional practice to reduce the reliance on, and effect of, ableism in representing people with disabilities in the prison reform litigation.

Nature-based health promotion: a valuable tool in prison partnerships

Abstract In the context of the current UK prison reform agenda and concern about the high incidence of violence, substance misuse, self-harm and suicide, prison-based horticulture can make a significant contribution to the creation of safe, secure, supportive and health-enhancing environments. By joining up health and justice agendas, therapeutic programmes have the potential to serve as powerful catalysts for wider systemic change, tackling inequalities and social exclusion within societies across the globe. This presentation critically discusses findings from evaluative research, ‘Greener on the Outside for Prisons’ (GOOP), delivered in prisons in North West England. It aims to illustrate impacts of prisoners’ participation in an innovative social and therapeutic horticultural programme. The qualitative study was informed by a theoretical exploration on socio-ecological model of health emphasising interconnections between environment, behaviour and wellbeing, recognising the dynamic interplay between situational and personal factors; by a psychosocial perspective, positioning the individual in networks of interpersonal relationships, organisations, and social, political and economic systems; and by insights from the Biophilia Hypothesis. Findings suggest that engagement in GOOP were important to improvements in health and wellbeing with wider context-specific benefits. Working across key agendas of health, education and resettlement, GOOP has effectively demonstrated the potential of horticulture to impact positively on mental wellbeing, physical activity and healthier eating. Additionally, it contributes towards social inclusion through the development of key transferable skills, life competencies, processes of socialisation, and preparation for successful resettlement and employment beyond prison, which are ultimately key determinants of future health and life chances.

Health Related Reforms as a Predictor of Change of Behavior Among Inmates. A Study of Correctional Facilities in Kenya

This study focused on health related reforms on change of behavior of inmates in correctional facilities in Kenya. The study was based on the following objective; to examine how health related reforms influences change of behavior of inmates in correctional facilities in Kenya. The study tested one alternate hypothesis on whether the relationship among the study variable was significant. The target population was 10,111 individuals spread as 2,953 prison officers and 7,158 inmates. From this population a sample was drawn using a formula totaling to 385 individuals who were picked for the study. The sample was spread accordingly as 112 prison officers and 273 inmates. Purposive sampling was used to select officers’ in-charge and their deputies. Twelve prison officers on duty were picked randomly from duty roster using prime numbers for focus group discussion from each prison. A separate list of long term prisoners was compiled from the records of capital offence and other offences who have served jail term of over ten years or have been in remand for ten years and then the sample size was picked in proportionate to the population in each prison institution from the list. Primary data was gathered by a semi-structured questionnaire, an interview schedule and focus group discussion from the target population. Secondary data was gathered through analyzing relevant documents. The study incorporated quantitative and qualitative approaches to process, analyze, and interpret the data. The SPSS was applied to run analyses for percentages, frequency distributions, and measures of central tendency, where applicable. Descriptive statistics were computed for variable using frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Statistical tools used for inferential statistic were person’ s product moment correlation(r), simple regression, multiple regression and step wise regression (R 2). T-tests were used to test hypothesis in the study the results revealed that r=0.429,t=5.189, at p=0.000<0.05. H 1 was confirmed and concluded that health reforms had a statistically significant influence on change of behavior of inmates in correctional facilities in Kenya. Findings of the study are expected to assist government policy makers regarding formulation and implementation of the prison reforms. The serving inmates may benefit from the improved prison environment which will be aligned with market preference and whose content may benefit the community. Keys terms : Health related reforms, change of behavior, inmates, correctional facilities DOI : 10.7176/JLPG/91-13 Publication date: November 30 th 2019

Educational Programmes as Key Variable Towards Change of Behavior Among Inmates in Correctional Facilities in Kenya

This study focused on influence of educational programmes on change of behavior of inmates in correctional facilities in Kenya. The study was based on the following objective; to examine how educational programmes reforms influences change of behavior of inmates in correctional facilities in Kenya. The study tested an alternate hypothesis on whether the relationship among the study variable was significant. The target population was 10,111 individuals spread as 2,953 prison officers and 7,158 inmates. From this population a sample was drawn using a formula totaling to 385 individuals who were picked for the study. The sample was spread accordingly as 112 prison officers and 273 inmates. Purposive sampling was used to select officers’ in-charge and their deputies. Twelve prison officers on duty were picked randomly from duty roster using prime numbers for focus group discussion from each prison. A separate list of long term prisoners was compiled from the records of capital offence and other offences who have served jail term of over ten years or have been in remand for ten years and then the sample size was picked in proportionate to the population in each prison institution from the list. Primary data was gathered by a semi-structured questionnaire, an interview schedule and focus group discussion from the target population. Secondary data was gathered through analyzing relevant documents. The study incorporated quantitative and qualitative approaches to process, analyze, and interpret the data. The SPSS was applied to run analyses for percentages, frequency distributions, and measures of central tendency. Descriptive statistics were computed for variable using frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Statistical tools used for inferential statistic were person’ s product moment correlation(r), simple regression, multiple regression and step wise regression (R 2). T –tests were used to test hypothesis in the study the results revealed that r=0.425,t=7.129, at p=0.000 <0.05,H 1 was confirmed and concluded that educational programmes reforms, had a statistically significant influence on change of behavior of inmates in correctional facilities in Kenya. Findings of the study are expected to be crucial to government policy makers regarding formulation and implementation of the prison reforms. The serving inmates may benefit from the improved prison environment which will be aligned with market preference and whose content may benefit the community. Keywords: Educational programmes, change of behavior, inmates, correctional facilities. DOI : 10.7176/PPAR/9-11-05 Publication date: November 30 th 2019

Certain Issues Related to the Implementation of International Standards in Uzbekistan's National Legislation with Regard to Improving C onditions of Detention of Women

The article opens the publications which are relevant to the problems research in the penitentiary system. The main problems in the legislation developing process, disadvantages of the current system are critically described so that to fulfill the international standards of the penal policy. According to the provisions enshrined in international legal standards, the decision on the distribution of convicted prisoners between penal institutions should not create difficulties for convicts and their families. For social rehabilitation, convicts should be detained in penitentiary institutions close to their residence or at a distance as close as possible to him. In this regard, the author notes with satisfaction the efforts of international organizations that contribute to the development of women's rights in Central Asia. For example, at the First Regional Meeting in Astana, the Representation of the International Prison Reform in Central Asia presented a project to improve the access of vulnerable categories of convicts to justice, where the vulnerable categories were noted as including not only people with disabilities, the elderly, the sick, those sentenced to death penalty, but also women. The present penal reforms in Uzbekistan lead to the discussion to recognize and implement those standards as the main policy on legislative level.

A qualitative investigation into the impact of domestic abuse on women’s desistance

While criminological literature, criminal justice practice, and to a lesser extent, state policy have acknowledged a link between women’s criminalisation and gendered violence (MoJ, 2018; Österman, 2018; Prison Reform Trust, 2017; Roberts, 2015), there has been much less acknowledgement of the role of historical and contemporaneous experiences of violence in the desistance scripts of criminalised women. Combining findings from two research projects exploring gender and desistance, this article argues that (i) criminalised women’s experiences of gendered violence are such that any exploration of gender and desistance which does not acknowledge this is incomplete, (ii) coercion and control can inform women’s entry into the criminal justice system, (iii) expressions of agency and resistance in abusive interpersonal relationships can also inform women’s offending, yet (iv) women’s experiences of desistance from crime can mask the harm they face in coercive, controlling, and violent relationships. Thus, the article argues for a reframing of desistance from crime as desistance from harm both theoretically and in practice, and considers what this might entail.

Illustrating Progressive-Era Reform in Pennsylvania: The Anna Wharton Morris Papers

Illustrating Progressive-Era Reform in Pennsylvania: The Anna Wharton Morris Papers Celia Caust-Ellenbogen (bio) Keywords prison reform, Progressive era, Quakers, Eastern State Penitentiary, Thomas Mott Osborne, women social reformers “As we stood out on the pavement in the cool air, the smell that came from the jail door really frightened me.” Anna Wharton Morris gamely entered the jail at Scranton, Pennsylvania, on October 22, 1915. What she found inside confirmed her fears: a “young man lying on his bunk, blood-spattered & feverish, but receiving no attention. Each cell had a double bed for two prisoners; horrible!!”1 One of the most active Progressive-era prison reformers in the state of Pennsylvania, Anna Wharton Morris (1868–1957) was described by a contemporary newspaper article as a “tall, forceful woman” who was “keenly interested” in prison reform and well-informed, articulate, and outspoken on the issue.2 Hailing from Philadelphia’s social and cultural elite, she seems an unlikely person to have had an intimate knowledge of prisons. Her father, Joseph Wharton, was the prominent industrialist who founded the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Her husband, Harrison S. Morris, was an author, magazine editor, and managing director at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She traveled to Europe, won horticultural awards, and rubbed shoulders with such artists as Violet Oakley. However, she was also an active member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), a sect noted for its members’ engagement in social reform movements and a history of imprisonment for their religious convictions.3 Much of Morris’s early prison work was done within the context of Quaker communities.4 [End Page 387] Morris served in leadership roles for such organizations as the National Society of Penal Information, Pennsylvania Prison Society, Pennsylvania Committee on Penal Affairs, Prison Reform Committee of the Public Charities Association of Philadelphia, and the Thomas Mott Osborne Memorial Fund.5 In about a twenty-year period, she spent nearly $100,000 on prison work.6 She published articles and letters and spoke on prison issues on dozens of occasions.7 Thomas Mott Osborne, one of the most influential prison reformers of the twentieth century, told her in 1921, “You are the only person I can trust in [Pennsylvania]!”8 The Anna Wharton Morris Papers at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College is a wellspring of uncommonly well-organized sources on the Progressive-era prison reform movement. Morris kept diaries throughout most of her life, with mentions of prisons helpfully indexed and extracted into a “Journal of Prison Work” covering the first two decades of her efforts. The “Journal of Prison Work” features a list of nearly fifty prisons and jails Morris visited, with reports on the physical facilities as well as comments on the demeanor of guards, administrators, and inmates. Her visits were concentrated in Philadelphia but ranged across the country from San Quentin (California) to Sing Sing (New York) and beyond. These first-hand observations offer glimpses into a wide variety of carceral institutions. Morris was also a prolific letter-writer, and her prison-related missives are conveniently sorted together. She corresponded with a vast network ranging from local activists and nationally significant reformers to current inmates. Her letters are rich in discussions of goals and strategy. Her most extensive correspondence was with Thomas Mott Osborne, a renowned prison activist from New York who counted Morris as a fierce supporter, key collaborator, and trusted confidant.9 A highlight of the collection is a series of fourteen cartoons drawn by Eastern State Penitentiary inmate Frederick Funk while incarcerated in the 1920s (cover image, figs. 1–2).10 There are drawings illustrating the unsanitary and cruel conditions of prison life, as well as incisive political cartoons dramatizing the investigations into warden Robert J. McKenty. These [End Page 388] Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 1. Frederick Funk, “Boast-full Bob’s Defiance,” ca. 1920, Convicts and Ex-convicts correspondence, Anna Wharton Morris Papers, SFHL-RG5-106, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College (FHL). [End Page 389] Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 2. Frederick Funk “He is no doctor. He is a ‘Nut’ Doctor,” ca. 1920, Convicts and Ex...

Editorial

Editorial Christina Larocco Recently, as I explained to an acquaintance where the Historical Society of Pennsylvania is located, she asked a question that surprised me: “Is that near the Daniel Faulkner plaque?” Indeed it is, though I had not realized it until recently. Every time I leave my office for a midday Target run or an Indian lunch buffet, I traverse the initial site of one of this state’s most controversial pieces of carceral history. In 1982, a jury convicted black civil rights activist and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal of first-degree murder in the death of Faulkner, a white city police officer. Originally sentenced to death, Abu-Jamal is now serving a life sentence. Immediately, activists noted irregularities in the arrest, trial, and conviction, including possible connections to police abuse and corruption and a conflict of interest on the part of a state Supreme Court justice who heard the case on appeal. In 2019, Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner withdrew his objection to an opinion from the court of common pleas, clearing the way for a new appeal before the state Supreme Court. A case that began outside of HSP almost thirty-eight years ago will continue.1 Literally and symbolically surrounded by such stories, we have a responsibility to document their precursors. Thus this issue of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography is dedicated to exploring the history of incarceration in Pennsylvania. Due in large part to its Quaker heritage, Pennsylvania has long been a center of prison reform movements. At HSP, for example, researchers can find the papers of the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons (later the Pennsylvania Prison Society), founded in 1787. Yet today Pennsylvania stands out as the state with the largest population of incarcerated individuals in the Northeast and the fifth-largest in the nation. The racial disparities, too, are striking: the state incarcerates African Americans and Latinos at rates of 8.9 and 3.3 times that of whites, respectively.2 [End Page 231] The development of a mass incarceration infrastructure was a multi-decade, bipartisan project. As a younger and more diverse constituency holds politicians accountable for policies they advocated and/or implemented in the 1990s, this history haunts Democratic Party candidates in particular—including Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Pennsylvania native Joe Biden today. These issues are particularly important in Pennsylvania, not only because carceral control defines the lives of so many of our neighbors but also, and relatedly, because of the state’s role as a fulcrum of national politics. As activists and scholars have pointed out for at least a decade, the prisons needed to house the burgeoning population of incarcerated individuals have overwhelmingly been built in rural areas. While incarcerated populations count toward congressional representation, these individuals cannot exercise the franchise. When racial disparities are taken into account, the carceral state thus echoes the Constitution’s three-fifths clause. It also increases the political clout of overwhelmingly white, rural areas vis-à-vis that of cities, which lose representation when the criminal justice system sends community members to otherwise less populous portions of the state.3 Beginning with a review essay by guest editor Jen Manion, the articles in this issue ask, among other questions, how we got here. While historians are not equipped to chart a path forward alone, we also believe that looking back is a necessary prerequisite for doing so. Ending the crisis of mass incarceration is no exception. [End Page 232] Footnotes 1. On Krasner’s withdrawn objection and a potential new appeal, see, for example, Chris Palmer, “Philly DA to Drop Challenge in Mumia Abu-Jamal Case, Clearing Appeal to Reach High Court,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Apr. 17, 2019. As a journalist, Abu-Jamal supported MOVE members in their 1978 standoff with police; see Tajah Ebram’s article in this volume, “ ‘You Can’t Jail the Revolution’: Policing, Protest, and the MOVE Organization in Philadelphia’s Carceral Landscape.” 2. ACLU Pennsylvania, “Ending Mass Incarceration in Pennsylvania,” accessed Aug. 28, 2019, https://www.aclupa.org/our-work/current-campaigns/smart-justice-pa!sentencing. 3. See Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New...

Hidden harmony: Converging interests in the development of prison reform

The “agonistic perspective” on criminal justice posits that tensions are ubiquitous in the field irrespective of time, place, and the given paradigm. While the study of conflict and contestation is important, it is equally necessary to study harmony and shared interests. In the present article, we explore a period in the history of European penal reform that was marked by such a convergence of interests, and which would in Poland wed institutional reactions to crime with pedagogy, rather than the field of law as seen in many other nations. Macro-level shifts following the First World War allowed for the convergence of three broad “currents” of the day: national penal reform; the field of pedagogy; and the self-ascribed social mission of the Polish intelligentsia. By taking seriously practical collaboration and ideological harmony we are also reminded that the (penal) systems of the West (particularly the USA and the UK) are not obvious, automatic, or necessary.

Рецензия на монографию Васильевой С. А. «“В темнице был, и вы пришли ко Мне…”: история зарождения практики тюремного служения в протестантской традиции и его влияние на ход пенитенциарных реформ в Америке, Европе и России»

The article presents a review on Vasil’eva S.A. monograph ““I was in prison and you came to visit me...”: the history of the origin of prison service practice in the Protestant tradition and its influence on the course of prison reform in America, Europe and Russia» given by Nesterova Olga Ivanovna, DSc (History), senior inspector on special assignments of the division of penal legislation, planning and conducting of official inspections of the Legal Department in the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia. The monograph is devoted to the origin and development of prison service practice in the Protestant tradition and its impact on prison reforms in Europe and America in the XIX century. Through the prism of prison philanthropy societies formation and the Institute of prison chaplains formation in the United Kingdom and the United States, the author explored theological, legal and practical aspects of prison service in the Protestant tradition. Turning to the history of Christian missionaries, who acted long before the penal reforms of the XIX century, the author rethinks the theoretical and methodological content of English penological doctrines. British penitentiary ideology and American practice were extrapolated in the XIX century to all European countries, marking the beginning of the creation of national penitentiary systems in Europe and the Russian Empire. The work analyzes the materials that have not previously been introduced into scientific circulation and not translated into Russian. The monographic study is recommended to historians, theologians, lawyers, specialists in the field of penology, students and graduate students of the Humanities, as well as anyone interested in the history of penitentiary reforms and problems of social history in general.

Is Mass Incarceration Inevitable?

The claim that American justice system engages in is now a cliche, albeit one that seems entirely justified by both the number and rate of people who are behind bars. As a result, a large number of states and the fed­eral government have engaged in wide-ranging reform efforts to shorten senten­ces, divert people from prison, and in general reduce incarceration numbers to more manageable levels. Although these efforts have made modest gains, there has been little discussion of whether their ultimate goal is feasible-reducing incarceration levels to a point where incarceration is no longer an apt description. This article explores the likelihood of a meaningful, sustained reduction in incarceration rates. It begins by asking what we really mean by mass incarcera­tion and finds that while the definition is surprisingly complex, the label ulti­mately seems justified. Then, using existing and original compilations of data, the article examines some of the less-obvious obstacles to reducing prison popula­tions. In particular, it highlights the difficulty of reducing incarceration rates without addressing the problems created by those convicted of violent crimes, something few reforms have been willing or able to do. It also argues that those who believe prison reform will lead to economic savings-a primary motivation in virtually every state-are misguided, and that illusion of economic savings might ultimately derail the reform efforts. The article then takes a further step and suggests that efforts to decrease incarceration levels will inevitably be frustrated unless the most influential per­son in the creation of mass incarceration, the prosecutor, is induced to play a more central role. To date, reform efforts have routinely targeted everyone in the process except prosecutors, and this article offers both suggestions on why this is so and an argument for why prosecutors are an indispensable part of any change. The article concludes with the sobering prediction that, as useful as recent reforms have been, as currently constructed they will ultimately be inad­equate to erase the mass incarceration label for years to come.

Accounting for the ‘deviant’ in 19th century Italian prisons

Abstract Studies of accounting in prisons have documented how the dominance of neo-liberal preferences in the management of prison systems has meant a focus on measuring cost-effectiveness and discharging accountability in a way which ignores important aspects of prison life such as decency and rehabilitation. The present work recognises the need for accounting studies to unmask the prejudiced, interested and potentially socially damaging use of accounting in prison reform by exposing how accounting is often a tool which can be used to discipline individuals consistent with the values of economic and political elites within a society. By applying a Foucauldian lens to the analysis of the prison systems of the major Italian States in the early 19th century, the study shows how accounting was an essential aid in ensuring that the correction of individuals was carried out consistent with the moral priorities of the liberal bourgeois society of the time. The specific visibilities created by means of accounting, upon which decisions on the life of prisoners were made and which still characterise modern prisons, reduced human life to a simplistic numerical representation. These were then used to reconstruct ‘deviant’ individuals as productive, obedient citizens, regardless of their specific circumstances.

Iola’s War on Alcohol, Lynching, and the Rise of the Carceral State

This article probes the discourses of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in the war on alcohol, prison reform, and the twin punishments of lynching and incarceration that help recontextualize Frances Harper’s 1893 novel Iola Leroy. The argument between Frances Willard and Ida B. Wells frames the illusory fear of black men raping white women and the threat of miscegenation. Harper’s novelistic response to this debate is to create multiple discourses for diverse audiences: white slavery, miscegenation, and the rise of a carceral state and its practice of convict leasing and the chain-gang. The article shows that the debates over women’s issues, domesticity, gender normativity, and prison reform within the WCTU disrupt the discourse of the tragic mulatta that has often been assumed primary and has softened the narrative critique in Iola Leroy.

Health Risks of Practicing Correctional Medicine.

Correctional staff suffer high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder compared to military veterans, and the suicide rate among correctional officers is twice as high as that of both police officers and the general population and higher than that of all other professions combined. Correctional facilities' physician employees are at risk of not only burnout but also other adverse mental health effects related to working in a correctional facility. Prison reform efforts should address the needs of both inmates and clinical staff.

DEVELOPMENT OF LIEPAJA RESIDENTIAL AREA "GREEN GROVE" DURING THE INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC OF LATVIA

In Latvia, after restoration of independence on May 4, 1990, the economy was restructured. In Liepaja, without analyzing city's historical planning and not finding successful solutions for inhabitants, many factories closed down. Not getting to know with the Detailed Plan of the residential area "Green Grove", professionally developed by architect Irena Rubauska, and lobbying individual interests, specialists of "Group 93" Ltd. produced a new territorial plan for Liepaja. In 2007, Latvian in prison reform was started. The first prison was decided to build in the residential area "Green Grove". The object of research – Liepaja residential district "Green Grove". Research problem – functional and structural changes of "Green Grove" are implemented without performing the analysis of earlier urban development concepts and do not ensure harmonious development of inhabitants’ living environment. The goal of research – analyze the influence of Liepaja Economic Zone and city development strategies on quality of inhabitants’ living conditions in residential areas of "Green Grove". Main methods applied – this study is based on analysis of archive documents, projects, cartographic materials of urban planning, study of published literature and inspection of buildings in nature.

Introduction

Introduction