Description
Book SynopsisIn this system, you can't trust anybody. Like, even on the streets, I've never trusted my own brother. But now, in Ni-Miikana, I'm starting to get that trust back. You just gotta be careful what you say in here, and you'll be all right.
Despite falling crime rates, more rights for inmates, and better training for correctional officers, Canada's prison population is on the rise, and outbreaks of violence continue to grab headlines. Applying Erving Goffman's frame theory and drawing on interviews with inmates and correctional officers in federal and provincial institutions, Michael Weinrath assesses whether improvements over the past twenty-five years have truly led to better corrections.
Behind the Walls offers an unprecedented look at life in contemporary prisons. Inmates and staff describe their transition to prison life and corrections work, and they explain how they frame or understand their roles and how they relate to others. They provide commentar
Table of Contents
Introduction
1 Canadian Prisons and Their Problems
2 The Prisons and the Interviews
3 How Inmates Understand Their Role
4 How Inmates Relate to Others
5 How Corrections Officers Understand Their Role
6 Relations between Inmates and Officers
7 The Effect of Policy, Architecture, and Technology
8 Boundary Violations by Correctional Officers
9 The Effect of Programs
10 The Rise of Prison Gangs
Conclusion
Appendix: Interview Guide
Notes
Glossary: Correctional Terms and Inmate Argot
References; Index
