A profile of life as a correctional officer at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California, a prison notorious for spraying more tear gas on inmates annually during the early 1980s that the entire rest of the nation's prison systems combined.
Sue White was 23-years old when she stuck a Hot Wheels car into her pocket, walked into a convenience store and pointed it at the attendant. This is the story of what happened next.
I spent a night drinking whiskey with a correctional officer from Pelican Bay State Prison. I asked him, why spend your days with rapist and murderers at what's been called "the largest maximum security lock-up in the free world"? This is what he said.
This story is based on a night I spent sleeping on the floor of a trailer discussing stabbings, smack and sexual assault with a man that knew a lot about each of them.
In the realm of criminology, evidence-based practices for rehabilitating prisoners have become the latest, and most promising, focus. However, in practice, correctional staff are often reluctant to embrace them. This article, drawn from a workshop at the 2010 American Correctional Association conference, looks at how prison administrators can tackle the problem of implementation.