IN JUNE 1943, THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES was wrenched by the worst rioting it had seen to that point in the twentieth century. Incited by sensational newspaper stories and public hysteria over allegations of widespread crime among Mexican American juveniles, scores of American servicemen, joined by civilians and even police officers, roamed the streets of the city in search of young Mexican Americans wearing zoot suits -- outlandish suits featuring baggy pants with narrow cuffs and knee-length jackets with wide lapels. Once found, zoot suiters were stripped of their clothes and beaten while police stood by. Only a handful of servicemen were arrested, but over six hundred Mexican American youths were incarcerated for disturbing the peace. The riots threw a harsh light on the deteriorating relationship between the city's Mexican American community and the Los Angeles Police Department.

In this study, Edward J. Escobar examines the history of the LAPD and the Chicano community from the turn of the century, when the police first became a professional organization, to the era of the Zoot Suit riots. Escobar shows how police increasingly characterized Chicanos as a criminal element, and how the assumption of Mexican Americans that the police were deliberately targeting them grew. As Escobar demonstrates, this troubled relationship prompted Mexican Americans to forge a new political identity, even as the LAPD used fear of minority crime to increase its autonomy. This combination of a politicized minority and an intransigent police force would eventually contribute to other uprisings in Los Angeles, including the 1965 Watts riots and the violence that erupted in 1992 following the acquittal ofLAPD officers accused of beating Rodney King.

This text is part of the Readings in Crime and Punishment series, a line of readers covering many aspects of the criminal justice, police, and correctional systems. Incarcerating Criminals look at our prisons and jails, situating them in their social and institutional environments. It will be an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate level courses in criminal justice and criminology, sociology, public policy, and other disciplines looking at our correctional institutions.

This is the history of the foundations of modern carceral institutions in Ontario. Drawing on a wide range of previously unexplored primary material - including the papers of prison inspectors and officials and the correspondence of those who wrote to the authorities - Peter Oliver provides a narrative and interpretative account of the penal system in nineteenth-century Ontario.

In a century of massive social change, the penal system remained rural, local, decentralized, and resistant to transformations that were affecting other areas of society. Despite the efforts of reformers, neither the political elites nor Ontarians in general paid much attention to the inadequacies of a system plagued by neglect, penny-pinching, and the vagaries of local control. In the 1830s, the Kingston penitentiary and punishment by incarceration became the cornerstones of the system, and these elements, however flawed, dominated the Ontario correctional system until the late twentieth century.

'Terror to Evil-Doers' focuses on the purposes and internal management of particular institutions. By synthesizing a wealth of new material into a comprehensive framework, Oliver's seminal study lays the groundwork for future students and scholars of Canadian history, criminology, and sociology.

Written by a journalist, this book depicts the day-to-day struggles and concerns of inmates a the Connecticut Correctional Institution in Niantic (renamed the Janet S. York correctional Institution), the state's only prison for women. Build in 1917 as a work farm for prostitutes, unwed mothers, and other women of allegedly immoral character, the Farm, as it is still called, has long served as a barometer of prevailing social attitudes toward women. In the summer of 1992, Andi Rierden obtained permission from the warden at Niantic to conduct research on life inside the institution. During the next three and a half years, she spent more than fifteen hundred hours among the women, recording interviews, strolling the grounds with inmates and corrections officers, sharing meals, attending classes and group counseling sessions, and tracking former inmates after their release. The stories these women tell shed light ton a wide range of issues, from the effects of more stringent drug laws and sentences to the rise of violence among inmates. In the process it becomes clear that the ideal of rehabilitation has been largely abandoned and replaced by a belief in punishment and retribution.

This book makes public, for the first time, a full account of the development of the privatization of prisons, centred on the only full-scale empirical study yet to have been undertaken in Britain. After providing an up-to-date overview of the development of private sector involvement in penal practice in the United Kingdom, North America, Europe and Australia, the authors go on to describe the first two years in the life of Wolds Remand Prison - the first private prison in Britain. They look at the daily life for remand prisoners, assess the duties and morale of staff and compare the workings of Wolds to a new local prison in the public sector. The authors conclude by discussing some of the practical and theoretical issues to have emerged from contracting out, ethical issues surrounding the whole privatization debate and implications for the future of the prison system and penal policy.

This book makes public, for the first time, a full account of the development of the privatization of prisons, centred on the only full-scale empirical study yet to have been undertaken in Britain. After providing an up-to-date overview of the development of private sector involvement in penal practice in the United Kingdom, North America, Europe and Australia, the authors go on to describe the first two years in the life of Wolds Remand Prison - the first private prison in Britain. They look at the daily life for remand prisoners, assess the duties and morale of staff and compare the workings of Wolds to a new local prison in the public sector. The authors conclude by discussing some of the practical and theoretical issues to have emerged from contracting out, ethical issues surrounding the whole privatization debate and implications for the future of the prison system and penal policy.

Gender, Ethnicity, and the State is a study of Latina and Latino prisoners in New York State. Through the use of two case studies, it compares the organizing strategies for reform pursued by Latina and Latino prisoners between 1970 and 1987, the support they received from non-Latina(o) prisoners and third parties, and the response of penal personnel to their calls for support.

This unique and original textbook offers undergraduates and interested professionals a much-needed description of how the penal system, including both prisons and alternatives to custody, is organized in eight major Western European countries. Each chapter provides readers with a critical anatomy and empirical overview of the full range of penal sanctions used in each country and an analysis of how these sanctions are implemented. Using statistical data which are not widely available, contributors examine the nature of the penal population in relation to sentencing, to its class, gender and racial composition and to the nature of the offences for which individuals have been confined. While highlighting several common trends in penal policy and strategy across Europe and seeking to assess to what extent these commonalities are being generated by the wider process of political integration, Western European Penal Systems also demonstrates that each of the eight countries has to an important extent its own culture of punishment which is constantly being reinterpreted and reworked.

With recent sentencing law changes at the state and national level, the United States will continue to use long-term confinement more than any other nation in the world. In this authoritative yet accessible volume, scholars, correctional authorities, researchers, and prisoners examine the use of long- term incarceration as a response to crime, the effects of long- term incarceration, and the strategies used by long-term inmates to adjust to confinement. Long-Term Imprisonment explores the prison experience of both male and female inmates and discusses the correctional management challenges posed by long-term incarceration. The core of this collection, edited by Timothy Flanagan, is a set of articles first published in The Prison Journal, the official journal of the Pennsylvania Prison Society and the oldest journal in the field of corrections. These articles are complemented with research reports on the effects of long-term confinement, a comprehensive analysis of long-term inmates currently confined in American and Canadian prisons, and essays written by long-term prisoners. If you are interested in the use and operation of prisons, and in the impact of these institutions on the people confined within them, this book is for you. In addition to students studying imprisonment, the book informs correctional administrators and policymakers about the nature of long-term inmate population and the impact of long-term imprisonment. "Timothy Flanagan began studying the effects of long-term incarceration over two decades ago when he conducted one of the first major studies of prisoners serving long sentences. Since then, many changes have occurred in corrections and sentences practices that have greatly increased sentence lengths and the number of prisoners serving long sentences. The collection of the essays contained in Long-Term Imprisonment represents the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and definitive review of literature regarding the effects of long-term incarceration on prisoners. Flanagan provides readers with a variety of perspectives of long- term imprisonment by including articles written by prison researchers, corrections officials, and long-term prisoners. This book is must reading for anyone interested in life in prisons and the unique world of the long-term prisoner." --Kevin N. Wright, Binghamton University

With recent sentencing law changes at the state and national level, the United States will continue to use long-term confinement more than any other nation in the world. In this authoritative yet accessible volume, scholars, correctional authorities, researchers, and prisoners examine the use of long- term incarceration as a response to crime, the effects of long- term incarceration, and the strategies used by long-term inmates to adjust to confinement. Long-Term Imprisonment explores the prison experience of both male and female inmates and discusses the correctional management challenges posed by long-term incarceration. The core of this collection, edited by Timothy Flanagan, is a set of articles first published in The Prison Journal, the official journal of the Pennsylvania Prison Society and the oldest journal in the field of corrections. These articles are complemented with research reports on the effects of long-term confinement, a comprehensive analysis of long-term inmates currently confined in American and Canadian prisons, and essays written by long-term prisoners. If you are interested in the use and operation of prisons, and in the impact of these institutions on the people confined within them, this book is for you. In addition to students studying imprisonment, the book informs correctional administrators and policymakers about the nature of long-term inmate population and the impact of long-term imprisonment. "Timothy Flanagan began studying the effects of long-term incarceration over two decades ago when he conducted one of the first major studies of prisoners serving long sentences. Since then, many changes have occurred in corrections and sentences practices that have greatly increased sentence lengths and the number of prisoners serving long sentences. The collection of the essays contained in Long-Term Imprisonment represents the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and definitive review of literature regarding the effects of long-term incarceration on prisoners. Flanagan provides readers with a variety of perspectives of long- term imprisonment by including articles written by prison researchers, corrections officials, and long-term prisoners. This book is must reading for anyone interested in life in prisons and the unique world of the long-term prisoner." --Kevin N. Wright, Binghamton University

Bringing together a range of first-hand testimonies of captives, this personal and arresting collection provides an overview of what life inside is actually like. Drawing on memoirs of captives - including those imprisoned for stealing money, murder, illegal protest or no reason at all - this book presents the universal experience of being incarcerated and brings to life the humanity of those behind locked doors. Tracing the career of the captive from the moment the door is first locked behind them, to analysis of the oddities of relationships developed in prison and how the deprivation of sex is dealt with, the book then reflects on the cruelties faced while inside, and concludes by looking at the problems faced when the supposedly happy day of release finally arrives. These insightful accounts help empathise and reflect on the impact of prison practices on inmates.

Coping with Prison explores the unique nature of the prison environment and examines the range of opportunities that exist to help prisoners address their offending behaviour, acquire skills and gain qualifications. Young offenders, men and women, all have different rights and entitlements which need to be respected, Everyone involved in the caring profession and statutory agencies, in voluntary work, or who is undertaking professional training or research needs to have a thorough understanding of how our complex penal system works of they are to help others effectively. This authoritative book, endorsed by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, explains clearly and succinctly, in user-friendly language, all you need to know to work with prisoners and to avoid coming into conflict with those responsible for administering the penal system.

The last British Governor of Spandau Allied Prison puts the record straight about the final years of Rudolf Hess' life, and his ultimate suicide while in Allied custody.

A revelatory and necessary survival memoir of five years of illegal detainment and torture in Guantanamo Bay

On September 11, 2001, in a cafe in London, Ahmed Errachidi watched as the twin towers collapsed. He was appalled by the loss of innocent life. But he couldn't possibly have predicted how much of his own life he too would lose because of that day. In a series of terrible events, Ahmed was sold by the Pakistanis to the Americans in the diplomatic lounge at Islamabad airport and spent five and a half years in Guantanamo. There, he was beaten, tortured, humiliated, and very nearly destroyed. But Ahmed did not give in. This very ordinary, Moroccan-born London chef became a leader of men. Known by the authorities as The General, he devised protests and resistance by any means possible. As a result, he spent most of his time in solitary confinement. But then, after all those years, Ahmed was freed, his innocence admitted. This is Ahmed's story. It will make readers rethink what it means to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It will also make readers look anew at courage, survival, justice, and the War on Terror.

'Cavadino and Dignan's Penal Systems: A Comparative Approach looks across national boundaries to see how penal systems differ and why. It is hands-down the most comprehensive and up-to-date book on the subject and should become a staple textbook for use in law and social science courses on comparative penal policy and practice' - Michael H. Tonry, University of Minnesota 'This book is an important addition to the literature on punishment. It is a highly readable and very well researched overview of some of the major differences in punitiveness between neo-liberal, corporatist and social democratic countries... This is a major contribution to comparative penology by two of the leading authors in this field' - Alison Liebling, Director of the Prisons Research Centre, UK 'A major and seminal work' - David Downes, Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics Penal Systems: A Comparative Approach is a comprehensive and original introduction to the comparative study of punishment. Analysing twelve countries, Cavadino and Dignan offer an integrated and theoretically rigorous approach to comparative penology. They draw upon material provided by a team of eminent penologists to produce an important and highly readable contribution to scholarship in this area. Early chapters introduce the reader to comparative penology, set out the theoretical framework and consider whether there is currently a 'global penal crisis'. Each country is then discussed in turn. Chapters on comparative youth justice and the privatization of prisons follow. Comparisons between countries are drawn within each chapter, giving the reader a synoptic and truly comparative vision of penality in different jurisdictions.

`A lucid and fascinating account of how society initially comes to be viewed as 'civilized' on the basis of how it punishes its offenders, and the various numances and contradictions that form the backdrop to that 'civilization' prior to 1970 and the unraveling of that process thereafter. ...He [Pratt] has at the very least broadened the boundaries of the debate about the history of imprisonment in new and novel ways that will surely become a basis for future analysis' - The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice

Punishment and Civilization examines how a framework of punishment that suited the values and standards of the civilized world came to be set in place from around 1800 to the late 20th century. In this book, John Pratt draws on research about prison architecture, clothing, diet, hygienic arrangements and changes in penal language to establish this.

The author demonstrates that this did not mean, however, that such a framework of punishment was 'civilized'. Instead it meant that punishment in the civilized world became anonymous and remote. Prison brutalities and privations could be largely unchecked by a public that did not want to be involved. In the last few decades it has become clear that civilized societies have to tolerate new boundaries of punishment. This is not because of any development of 'civilized punishment'. Instead this is due to a shift in public mood and power: from public indifference to public involvement in penal development.

Throughout this text theoretical ideas and concepts are accessibly introduced and illustrated with a wide range of examples from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It will be essential reading for students and academics of punishment, prisons and social theory.

"The quite extraordinary phenomenon of mass imprisonment in the USA needs, above all, to be identified. David Garland and his excellent range of criminological contributors go well beyond this by showing how to start thinking (and arguing) about what these unprecedented statistics might mean for all modern societies" - Professor Stan Cohen, Department of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science, U.K. This major new volume of papers by leading criminologists, sociologists and historians, sets out what is known about the political and penological causes of the phenomenon of mass imprisonment. Mass imprisonment, American-style, involves the penal segregation of large numbers of the poor and minorities. Imprisonment has become a central institution for the social control of the urban poor. Other countries are now looking to the USA to see what should be learned from this massive and controversial social experiment. This book describes mass imprisonment's impact upon crime, upon the minority communities most affected, upon social policy and, more broadly upon national culture. This is a book that all penologists and policy makers should read.

Acknowledging the social and political trends, particularly the part played by social deprivation and racism and the importance of continuing to understand them, this book attempts to provide, ideas, examples and models for others to use, add to or challenge.

For the first time in four decades, prison populations are declining and politicians have reached the consensus that mass imprisonment is no longer sustainable. At this unique moment in the history of corrections, the opportunity has emerged to discuss in meaningful ways how best to shape efforts to control crime and to intervene effectively with offenders. This breakthrough book brings together established correctional scholars to imagine what this prison future might entail. Each scholar uses his or her expertise to craft-in an accessible way for students to read-a blueprint for how to create a new penology along a particular theme. For example, one contributor writes about how to use existing research expertise to create a prison that is therapeutic and another provides insight on how to create a "feminist" prison. In the final chapter the editors pull together the "lessons learned" in a cohesive, comprehensive essay.

"The Society of Captives," first published in 1958, is a classic of modern criminology and one of the most important books ever written about prison.

Gresham Sykes wrote the book at the height of the Cold War, motivated by the world's experience of fascism and communism to study the closest thing to a totalitarian system in American life: a maximum security prison. His analysis calls into question the extent to which prisons can succeed in their attempts to control every facet of life--or whether the strong bonds between prisoners make it impossible to run a prison without finding ways of "accommodating" the prisoners.

Re-released now with a new introduction by Bruce Western and a new epilogue by the author, "The Society of Captives" will continue to serve as an indispensable text for coming to terms with the nature of modern power.

This volume explores the history of the Irish republican prisoners held in English prisons during the first phase of the Troubles. The book draws on unprecedented access to participants to detail and analyse the phenomena of the IRA in English prisons.