Young Criminal Lives is the first cradle-to-grave study of the experiences of some of the thousands of delinquent, difficult and destitute children passing through the early English juvenile reformatory system. The book breaks new ground in crime research, speaking to pressing present-day concerns around child poverty and youth justice, and resonating with a powerful public fascination for family history. Using innovative digital methods to unlock the Victorian life course, the authors have reconstructed the lives, families and neighbourhoods of 500 children living within, or at the margins of, the early English juvenile reformatory system. Four hundred of them were sent to reformatory and industrial schools in the north west of England from courts around the UK over a fifty-year period from the 1860s onwards. Young Criminal Lives is based on one of the most comprehensive sets of official and personal data ever assembled for a historical study of this kind. For the first time, these children can be followed on their journey in and out of reform and then though their adulthood and old age. The book centres on institutions celebrated in this period for their pioneering new approaches to child welfare and others that were investigated for cruelty and scandal. Both were typical of the new kind of state-certified provision offered, from the 1850s on, to children who had committed criminal acts, or who were considered 'vulnerable' to predation, poverty and the 'inheritance' of criminal dispositions. The notion that interventions can and must be evaluated in order to determine 'what works' now dominates public policy. But how did Victorian and Edwardian policy-makers and practitioners deal with this question? By what criteria, and on the basis of what kinds of evidence, did they judge their own successes and failures? Young Criminal Lives ends with a critical review of the historical rise of evidence-based policy-making within criminal justice. It will appeal to scholars and students of crime and penal policy, criminologists, sociologists, and social policy researchers and practitioners in youth justice and child protection.

One of the key premises for creating a separate criminal justicesystem for juveniles was that juveniles were not the same as adults,and could therefore be rehabilitated. Despite this premise, stilllargely held today, the rate of recidivism for juveniles is dismal.The history of a supposedly rehabilitative juvenile justice systemin the United States is a failed history of incarceration, muchlike that of adult corrections. Rehabilitation by incarcerationhas proven to be an ineffective and unsustainable strategy. Arobust amount of research shows that treating juveniles closer tohome, in fact in their communities, is the most effective tool forrehabilitating juvenile offenders. This book not only makes an argument for juvenile justice withina young person's community; it provides a model. Tarrant CountyJuvenile Services has been an exception to the national normfrom the beginning. This book will trace the history of Texas'soldest juvenile probation department and the legacy left by theleaders of this agency from its inception. The reader will take awayvivid pictures of the leaders who transformed the system, andreal-life examples of the key concepts underlying an effective andsustainable juvenile justice system, with accountability both forjuvenile offenders and for their communities.

From the late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century juvenile reformatories served as citizen-building institutions and a political tool of state racism in post-emancipation America. New South advocates cemented their regional affiliation by using these reformatories to showcase mercies which were racialized, gendered, and linked to sexuality. Southern Mercy uses four historical examples of juvenile reformatories in North Carolina to explore how spectacles of mercy have influenced Southern modernity. Working through archival material pertaining to race and moral uplift, including rare photos from the private archives of Samarcand Manor (the State Home and Industrial Manor for Girls) and restricted archival records of reformatory racial policies, Annette Bickford examines the limits of emancipation, and the exclusions inherent in liberal humanism that distinguish racism in the contemporary "post-race" era.

Sex is usually assumed to be a closely guarded secret of prison life. But it has long been the subject of intense scrutiny by both prison administrators and reformers--as well as a source of fascination and anxiety for the American public. Historically, sex behind bars has evoked radically different responses from professionals and the public alike. In "Criminal Intimacy," Regina Kunzel tracks these varying interpretations and reveals their foundational influence on modern thinking about sexuality and identity. Historians have held the fusion of sexual desire and identity to be the defining marker of sexual modernity, but sex behind bars, often involving otherwise heterosexual prisoners, calls those assumptions into question. By exploring the sexual lives of prisoners and the sexual culture of prisons over the past two centuries--along with the impact of a range of issues, including race, class, and gender; sexual violence; prisoners' rights activism; and the HIV epidemic--Kunzel discovers a world whose surprising plurality and mutability reveals the fissures and fault lines beneath modern sexuality itself. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including physicians, psychiatrists, sociologists, correctional administrators, journalists, and prisoners themselves--as well as depictions of prison life in popular culture--Kunzel argues for the importance of the prison to the history of sexuality and for the centrality of ideas about sex and sexuality to the modern prison. In the process, she deepens and complicates our understanding of sexuality in America.

"The Child Savers deeply influenced me and dozens of other feminist scholars who have studied social policy critically. This reissue is remarkable in allowing us to rethink it, and nowhere more valuable than in Tony Platt's own thoughtful reconsideration."- Linda Gordon, professor of history, New York University "The Child Savers, at forty, is a classic. Accompanied by lively contributions that reflect on its impact and outline recent research, this new edition will ensure that the book lives on, its message always challenging, its relevance undiminished."- Hugh Cunningham, emeritus professor of social history, University of Kent "The Child Savers is a classic, and the updated edition is even more relevant today; a must for the informed public and the perceptive student."- Jock Young, Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice, Graduate Center, City University of New York and John Jay College "Platt's brilliant inquiry into the oxymoron of juvenile justice demands again that we upend our ritualized system of punishing, containing, and crushing our defiant young."-Bernardine Dohrn, Northwestern University School of Law Hailed as a definitive analytical and historical study of the juvenile justice system, this 40th anniversary edition of The Child Savers features a new essay by Anthony M. Platt that highlights recent directions in the field, as well as a critique of his original text. This expanded edition includes insightful commentaries from cross-disciplinary academics, along with an introductory essay by Miroslava Chavez-Garcia, critically examining how Platt's influential study has impacted many of the central arguments social scientists and historians face today. Anthony M. Platt is a professor emeritus at California State University, Sacramento. He is the author of several books on American history, social policy, and race relations. A volume in the Critical Issues in Crime and Society series, edited by Raymond J. Michalowski

Young minority men are often portrayed in popular media as victims of poverty and discrimination. A Dream Denied delves deeper, investigating the social and cultural implications of the "American dream" narrative for young minority men in the juvenile justice systems in Boston and Chicago. This book connects young male offenders' cycles of desistance and recidivism with normative assumptions about success and failure in American society, exposing a tragic disconnect between structural reality and juvenile justice policy. This book challenges us to reconsider how American society relates to its most vulnerable members, how it responds to their personal failures, and how it promises them a better future.

A great number of incarcerated youth have diagnosable psychiatric problems and, while in detention, this population experiences events that make them more vulnerable to disorders of mental health. This issue of Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics is edited and authored by psychiatrists expert in working with youth in detention. Topics include Demographics of youth in detention; Mental health screening and assessment; Mental health care of detained youth and solitary confinement and restraint within juvenile detention facilities; Civil and constitutional rights of adjudicated youth; Community based alternatives to incarceration and assessment and community based planning for probation/community based alternatives; The role of the child and adolescent psychiatrist in the adjudicatory assessments; Screening and assessment of detained youth; Quality of education for youth in the juvenile detention system; Variety of out-of-home placements for juvenile offenders; Juvenile sexual offenders; Sexual exploitation of children in detention; Transfer from juvenile to adult court: Which states have the most effective models? ; Competence to stand trial; Firesetting. Clinical vignettes are presented with each topic to exemplify a case of the discussion.

Rehabilitation and Probation in England and Wales, 1876-1962 draws on a wide range of archive material to describe the arrival of a modern probation service. Focusing on the first half of the twentieth century, it describes the debates, conflicts and compromises that resulted in the creation of a state sponsored, centrally controlled, professional, secular, social work and psychological based agency. Following a chronological structure, Ray Gard explores the arrival of the so-called period of 'penal optimism', showing how rehabilitation arrived in the courts of England and Wales. The book uses archive and original material to give voice to those devising and implementing policy, revealing an uneven path to a modern probation system.

What should be done with minors who kill, maim, defile, and destroy the lives of others? The state of Texas deals with some of its most serious and violent youthful offenders through "determinate sentencing," a unique sentencing structure that blends parts of the juvenile and adult justice systems. Once adjudicated via determinate sentencing, offenders are first incarcerated in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC). As they approach age eighteen, they are either transferred to the Texas prison system to serve the remainder of their original determinate sentence or released from TYC into Texas's communities. The first long-term study of determinate sentencing in Texas, Lost Causes examines the social and delinquent histories, institutionalization experiences, and release and recidivism outcomes of more than 3,000 serious and violent juvenile offenders who received such sentences between 1987 and 2011. The authors seek to understand the process, outcomes, and consequences of determinate sentencing, which gave serious and violent juvenile offenders one more chance to redeem themselves or to solidify their place as the next generation of adult prisoners in Texas. The book's findings-that about 70 percent of offenders are released to the community during their most crime-prone years instead of being transferred to the Texas prison system and that about half of those released continue to reoffend for serious crimes-make Lost Causes crucial reading for all students and practitioners of juvenile and criminal justice.

Using the successful Inside-Out program, in which incarcerated and non-incarcerated college students are taught in the same classroom, this book explores the practice of community-based learning, including the voices of teachers and participants, and offers a model for courses, student life programs, and faculty training.

By the close of the twentieth century, the United States became known for its reliance on incarceration as the chief means of social control, particularly in poor communities of color. The carceral state has been extended into the public school system in these communities in what has become known as the ""school-to-prison pipeline."" Through interviews with young people suspended from school, Weissman examines the impact of zero tolerance and other harsh disciplinary approaches that have transformed schools into penal-like institutions. In their own words, students describe their lives, the challenges they face, and their efforts to overcome those challenges. Unlike other studies, this book illuminates the students' perspectives on what happens when the educational system excludes them from regular school. Weissman draws attention to research findings that suggest punitive disciplinary policies and practices resemble criminal justice strategies of arrest, trial, sentence, and imprisonment. She demonstrates how harsh school discipline prepares young people from poor communities of color for their place in the carceral state. An invaluable resource for policy makers, Prelude to Prison presents recommendations for policy, practice, and political change that have the potential to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.

Since its implementation in 2003, the Youth Criminal Justice Act has been the subject of intense political and scholarly debate. A complicated mixture of provisions intended to provide harsher punishments for serious violent crimes while encouraging positive, non-punitive interventions in less serious cases, its impact on the youth justice system remains controversial. Implementing and Working with the Youth Criminal Justice Act across Canada provides the first comprehensive, province-by-province analysis of how each Canadian jurisdiction has implemented the Act in accordance with its own history, traditions, and institutional arrangements. Drawing on in-depth interviews with probation officers, counselors, educators, and social workers, the contributors use the experiences of practitioners to offer a new analytical perspective on a complicated and contentious aspect of the Canadian justice system. Their conclusions provide vital policy and program information for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers concerned with Canada's youth justice systems.

According to DOJ, tribal nations are disproportionately affected by violent crimes and sex offenses in particular. In 2006, Congress passed SORNA, which introduced new sex offender registration and notification standards for states, territories, and eligible tribes. The act made special provisions for eligible tribes to elect either to act as registration jurisdictions or to delegate SORNA functions to the states in which they are located. This book addresses, among other things, the extent to which eligible tribes have retained their authority to implement, and for those that did, describe their implementation status; and implementation challenges tribes that retained their authority reported, and steps federal agencies have taken or could take to address these challenges.

This book provides a comprehensive, cutting-edge look at the problems that impact the way we conduct intervention and treatment for youth in crisis today-an indispensable resource for practitioners, students, researchers, policymakers, and faculty working in the area of juvenile justice. Understanding Juvenile Justice and Delinquency provides a concise overview of the most compelling issues in juvenile delinquency today. It covers not only the range of offenses but also the offenders themselves as well as those impacted by crime and delinquency. All of the chapters contain up-to-date research, laws, and data that accurately frame discussions on youth violence, detention, and treatment; related issues such as gangs and drugs; the consequences for scholars, teachers, and students; and best practices in intervention methods. The book's organization guides readers logically from the broader definitions and parameters of the study of juveniles to the more specific. The volume leads with an explanation of the relationship between victimization and juvenile behavior and sets up boundaries of the arenas of delinquency-from the family to the streets to cyberspace. The book then focuses on more specific populations of offenders and offenses, including recent, emerging issues, offering the most accurate information available and cutting-edge insight into the issues that affect youth in custody and in our communities. Provides insights into juvenile justice from contributors and editors who have extensive experience in teaching, researching, and writing on the subject Represents an ideal teaching text for courses in juvenile justice-a staple topic in all criminology and criminal justice college programs Presents analysis and evaluation of techniques used and programs employed, enabling readers to be better advocates for law and policy impacting youth Includes discussion questions appropriate for classroom settings and lists of additional resources, related websites, and supporting films that guide students in investigating the subject further Supplies updated data and information on policy and law that will serve as a vital resource for students writing papers or scholars teaching in the field of juvenile justice

An Innovative New Text That Addresses A Critical Issue Nearly 2,000 People Are Released From Prison Every Day In The United States, Many Of Whom Face Significant Barriers To Re-Entry Into The Civilian Population. Within Three Years, Two-Thirds Of Them Will Be Rearrested, And Nearly Half Will Return To Prison For A New Crime Or Parole Violation. Offender Reentry: Rethinking Criminology And Criminal Justice Is The First Text Of Its Kind To Address This Major Issue In Criminology And Criminal Justice. Bringing Together Cutting-Edge And Never-Before-Published Research, And Authored By The Most Critically Recognized Experts In The Field, This Text Offers Students Extraordinary Insight Into The Experiences Of Both Offenders In Reentry And The Practitioners Who Work Within The Legal System. Real-World Stories From Criminal Justice Professionals And Offenders Themselves Are Integrated With Up-To-The Minute Research And Thought-Provoking Analysis. Student-Oriented Pedagogical Features, Including Critical-Thinking And Discussion Questions For Every Chapter, Push Students To Engage Deeply With The Text And Synthesize Their Own Innovative Solutions To Contemporary Problems. The Text Addresses All Of The Societal Factors That Affect Offender Reentry, As Well As The Political And Economic Effects On The Community And Issues Of Public Safety. Ideally Suited For Upper-Level Undergraduate And Graduate Courses In Criminal Justice And Criminology, Offender Reentry Is An Invaluable New Addition To The Field.

Taken from published reviews: "…Dr Blackburn has written a remarkably good book; indeed, the best book on the topic—from either side of the Atlantic—I have read. … the breadth of the author’s knowledge is nothing short of encyclopaedic. Not only psychology—developmental and social, as well as clinical—but also psychiatry, biology, philosophy, and law are addressed in this volume. Finally, the book is written with clarity, economy, and a lucid style. It is as inviting and user-friendly as any work of such complexity can be. … I hope that it will find its way into psychiatry residency training programmes as well. It could do wonders for replacing turf-battles with common ground." Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health "…The scholarly breadth and accuracy of this work are remarkable. There seems to be no important contribution to our psychological understanding of crime which Blackburn has omitted to discuss, including those approaches from sociological and social psychology which are frequently neglected in straightforward psychological treatments. Moreover, all approaches are intelligently and sympathetically discussed." Expert Evidence "…The volume is infused with the author’s enthusiasm for a social cognitive perspective on offending behaviour, but he also robustly defends the utility of the notion of personality traits. …Overall, this book brings together a vast array of research and theory examined from the perspective of the clinician involved with the individual. It will almost certainly become the key background text for post-graduate courses teaching forensic psychology and would be a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any clinician with forensic concerns." Clinical Psychology Forum "…This is undoubtedly an important book. …The end result is a book of excellent quality, which I recommend most warmly to clinical psychologists, and indeed, to anybody who is interested in ‘criminological psychology’." Behaviour Research and Therapy "…This author is to be congratulated for having produced this impressive volume. It provides a comprehensive review which is critical yet well-balanced. It assumes no prior familiarity with the field, and specialists from many different disciplines will learn a great deal from it." Criminal Law Review

In 2006, after a scandal that gripped the country, the British government began to transform its prison system. Under pressure to find and expel foreigners, Her Majesty's Prison Service began concentrating non-citizens in prisons with 'embedded' border agents. Today, prison officers refer anyone suspected of being foreign to immigration authorities and prisoners facing deportation are detained in special prisons devoted to confining non-citizens. Those who cannot be deported linger, sometimes for years, indefinitely detained behind prison walls. The British approach to foreign nationals reflects a broader trend in punishment. Over the past decade, penal institutions across England, the United States, and Western Europe have become key sites for border control. Offering the first comprehensive account of the imprisonment of non-citizens in the United Kingdom, Punish and Expel: Border Control, Nationalism, and the New Purpose of the Prison draws on extensive empirical data, based on fieldwork in five men's prisons, to explore the relationship between punishment and citizenship. Using first-hand testimonies from hundreds of prisoners, prison officers, and high-level policy makers, it describes how prisons create a national identity and goes inside citizenship classes and 'all-foreign' prisons, documenting the treatment of non-citizens by other prisoners and staff. Passionately argued and meticulously researched, Punish and Expel links prisons to the history of British colonialism and the contemporary politics of race, whilst challenging readers to rethink their approach to prisons, and to the people held inside them.

A lively and challenging collection of writings by those at the very heart of the Probation Service for 50-years. Complete with descriptions of life at all levels of what has been described as the 'jewel in the crown' of criminal justice. Moral and other challenges are presented alongside those of standing-up to government Ministers whose aspirations for 'political immortality' have led to profound tensions. The book describes how tough talk and market-strategies have undermined 100-years of devoted public service and ideas about how best to help change the lives of some of the most marginalised people in society. Equality, race and social deprivation are amongst the issues explored as the ethos of probation and its deeply-rooted values are laid bare in a book that deals with highs and lows, hazards, innovation, hopes, aims and the international influence of an organization whose original mission (not always popular) was to 'advise, assist and befriend' those otherwise heading for prison and a life of crime.Colourful and highly readable, The Golden Age of Probation takes the reader on a journey through England and Wales exposing social disadvantage, unrest and increasingly London-centric policies. It records first-hand what life was like for those at the sharp end during an era of extensive progress, development and change.

Shining new light on early American prison literature--from its origins in last words, dying warnings, and gallows literature to its later works of autobiography, expose, and imaginative literature--"Reading Prisoners" weaves together insights about the rise of the early American penitentiary, the history of early American literacy instruction, and the transformation of crime writing in the "long" eighteenth century.
Looking first at colonial America--an era often said to devalue jailhouse literacy--Jodi Schorb reveals that in fact this era launched the literate prisoner into public prominence. Criminal confessions published between 1700 and 1740, she shows, were crucial "literacy events" that sparked widespread public fascination with the reading habits of the condemned, consistent with the evangelical revivalism that culminated in the first Great Awakening. By century's end, narratives by condemned criminals helped an audience of new writers navigate the perils and promises of expanded literacy.
Schorb takes us off the scaffold and inside the private world of the first penitentiaries--such as Philadelphia's Walnut Street Prison and New York's Newgate, Auburn, and Sing Sing. She unveils the long and contentious struggle over the value of prisoner education that ultimately led to sporadic efforts to supply prisoners with books and education. Indeed, a new philosophy emerged, one that argued that prisoners were best served by silence and hard labor, not by reading and writing--a stance that a new generation of convict authors vociferously protested.
The staggering rise of mass incarceration in America since the 1970s has brought the issue of prisoner rehabilitation once again to the fore. "Reading Prisoners" offers vital background to the ongoing, crucial debates over the benefits of prisoner education.

Winner of the 2014 Outstanding Book Award presented by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Over 2% of U.S.children under the age of 18--more than 1,700,000 children--have a parent in prison. These children experience very real disadvantages when compared to their peers: they tend to experience lower levels of educational success, social exclusion, and even a higher likelihood of their own future incarceration. Meanwhile, their new caregivers have to adjust to their new responsibilities as their lives change overnight, and the incarcerated parents are cut off from their children's development. Parental Incarceration and the Family brings a family perspective to our understanding of what it means to have so many of our nation's parents in prison. Drawing from the field's most recent research and the author's own fieldwork, Joyce Arditti offers an in-depth look at how incarceration affects entire families: offender parents, children, and care-givers. Through the use of exemplars, anecdotes, and reflections, Joyce Arditti puts a human face on the mass of humanity behind bars, as well as those family members who are affected by a parent's imprisonment. In focusing on offenders as parents, a radically different social policy agenda emerges--one that calls for real reform and that responds to the collective vulnerabilities of the incarcerated and their kin.

* Real life stories with expert analysis * Case studies and comment * Provides a valuable perspective on youth offending * Contains key messages about youth crime The voices of young offenders-the real life stories behind the worrying and sometimes tragic lives of those who get into trouble with the law. Setting these within the context of descriptions of youth justice policy, Jackie Worrall conveys to her readers an understanding of how and why young people become offenders going far beyond that to be gleaned from everyday rhetoric and theory. Why Did You Do It? contains raw, first-hand accounts of young people involved in crime. These stories cast a different light on youth offending to that so often portrayed by the media, making this new and insightful work a valuable resource for anyone trying to grasp the social, penal or criminological implications of youth crime. What are the traps that can ensnare young people as they grow up and the triggers which can so easily see them onto the wrong side of the tracks? In Why Did You Do It? Jackie Worrall sets out their explanations, examines a critical phase in their lives and dissects the political mantra, over-tidy solutions and off-the-cuff responses. Review 'Having worked with offenders for decades, Jackie Worrall's experience and knowledge is unparalleled' Paul McDowell, CEO, Nacro. Author Dr Jackie Worrall was born in London and read law at Warwick University before working as a probation officer in Birmingham and Warwickshire. In 1982, she joined Nacro, the crime reduction charity, as manager of a youth training scheme. During her career she took on a variety of crime-related responsibilities for Nacro, culminating in her role as that organization's Director of Policy and Public Affairs-and hence her unrivalled knowledge and experience when dissecting the explanations or excuses in this book. Foreword With a Foreword by Paul MacDowell, Chief Executive of Nacro.

Over the last two decades, researchers have made significant discoveries about the causes and origins of delinquency. Specifically, we have learned a great deal about adolescent development and its relationship to decision-making, about multiple factors that contribute to delinquency, and about the processes and contexts associated with the course of delinquent careers. Over the same period, public officials have made sweeping jurisprudential, jurisdictional, and procedural changes in our juvenile justice systems. The Oxford Handbook of Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice presents a timely compilation of state-of-the-art critical reviews of knowledge about causes of delinquency and their significance for justice policy, and about developments in the juvenile justice system to prevent and control youth crime. The first half of the handbook focuses on juvenile crime and examines trends and patterns in delinquency and victimization, explores causes of delinquency-at the individual, micro-social, and macro-social levels, and from natural and social science perspectives-and their implications for structuring a youth justice system. The second half of the handbook concentrates on juvenile justice and examines a range of issues-including the historical origins and re-invention of the juvenile court; juvenile offenders' mental health status and considerations of trial competence and culpability; intake, diversion, detention, and juvenile courts; and transfer/waiver strategies-and considers how the juvenile justice system itself influences delinquency. The Oxford Handbook of Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice provides a comprehensive overview of juvenile crime and juvenile justice administration by authors who are all leading scholars involved in cutting-edge research, and is an essential resource for scholars, students, and justice officials. "Many volumes of this sort aspire to such balance, but this one succeeds. For those looking for a one-stop approach to the primary debates in this important subfield, this is the place to start shopping."-CHOICE

Winner of the 2014 Division of Women and Crime Distinguished Scholar Award presented by the American Society of Criminology Finalist for the 2013 C. Wright Mills Book Award presented by the Society for the Study of Social Problems Compelling interviews uncover why tough drug policies disproportionately impact women in the American prison system Since the 1980s, when the War on Drugs kicked into high gear and prison populations soared, the increase in women's rate of incarceration has steadily outpaced that of men. As a result, women's prisons in the US have suffered perhaps the most drastically from the overcrowding and recurrent budget crises that have plagued the penal system since harsher drugs laws came into effect. In Breaking Women, Jill A. McCorkel draws upon four years of on-the-ground research in a major US women's prison to uncover why tougher drug policies have so greatly affected those incarcerated there, and how the very nature of punishment in women's detention centers has been deeply altered as a result. Through compelling interviews with prisoners and state personnel, McCorkel reveals that popular so-called "habilitation" drug treatment programs force women to accept a view of themselves as inherently damaged, aberrant addicts in order to secure an earlier release. These programs were created as a way to enact stricter punishments on female drug offenders while remaining sensitive to their perceived feminine needs for treatment, yet they instead work to enforce stereotypes of deviancy that ultimately humiliate and degrade the women. The prisoners are left feeling lost and alienated in the end, and many never truly address their addiction as the programs' organizers may have hoped. A fascinating and yet sobering study, Breaking Women foregrounds the gendered and racialized assumptions behind tough-on-crime policies while offering a vivid account of how the contemporary penal system impacts individual lives.

Originally published as a series on Reality Sandwich and The Huffington Post, Exile Nation is a work of "spiritual journalism" that grapples with the themes of drugs, prisons, politics, and spirituality through Shaw's personal story. In 2005, Shaw was arrested in Chicago for possession of MDMA and was sent to prison for one year. Shaw not only looks at the current prison system and its many destructive flaws, but also at how American culture regards criminals and those who live outside of society. He begins his story at Chicago's Cook County Jail, and uses its sprawling, highly corrupt infrastructure to build upon his overarching argument. This is an insider's look at the forgotten or excluded segments of our society, the disenfranchised lifestyles and subcultures existing in what Shaw calls the "exile nation." They are those who lost some or all of their ability to participate in the full opportunities of society because of an arrest or conviction for a non-violent, drug-related, or "moral" offense, those who cannot participate in the credit economy, and those with lifestyle choices that involve radical politics and sexuality, cognitive liberty, and unorthodox spiritual and healing practices. Together they make up the new "evolutionary counterculture" of the most significant epoch in human history.

To date, knowledge of the everyday world of the juvenile correction institution has been extremely sparse. Compassionate Confinement brings to light the challenges and complexities inherent in the U.S. system of juvenile corrections. Building on over a year of field work at a boys' residential facility, Laura S. Abrams and Ben Anderson-Nathe provide a context for contemporary institutions and highlight some of the system's most troubling tensions. This ethnographic text utilizes narratives, observations, and case examples to illustrate the strain between treatment and correctional paradigms and the mixed messages regarding gender identity and masculinity that the youths are expected to navigate. Within this context, the authors use the boys' stories to show various and unexpected pathways toward behavior change. While some residents clearly seized opportunities for self-transformation, others manipulated their way toward release, and faced substantial challenges when they returned home. Compassionate Confinement concludes with recommendations for rehabilitating this notoriously troubled system in light of the experiences of its most vulnerable stakeholders.