
The Professional Convict's Tale
The Survival of John O'Neill in and Out of Prison
Elmer H. Johnson(Editor)
Southern Illinois University Press
Will be published approx. on 3. March 2007
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-0-8093-2698-3 (ISBN)
Description
The Professional Convict's Tale: The Survival of John O'Neill In and Out of Prison offers a unique, inside view of life behind bars in the 1960s. Elmer H. Johnson, a criminologist who has specialized in prison life for half a century, gave Menard Penitentiary parolee John O'Neill a tape recorder and a set of questions designed to draw out his opinions and observations about the prison world. This study frames O'Neill's responses with Johnson's analysis. O'Neill's narrative guides readers through the world beyond the prison gate as he shares his strategies for survival and proposes alternatives to rebellion or submission. He discusses the fractionalization between the keepers and the kept and the effects that subterranean communication, threats of inmate predators, and prison riots can have on the psyche of both inmates and staff. O'Neill's frustrations and the inadequate responses from the community to which he was paroled illustrate the social costs and impact of parole for the community and for the parolee. Although O'Neill recorded his comments more than forty years ago, they are still relevant today when thousands of convicts are being released from prison each year.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Carbondale
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
333 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8093-2698-3 (9780809326983)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Elmer H. Johnson, distinguished professor emeritus with the Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency, and Corrections at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is the author or editor of eight other books, including Linking Community and Corrections in Japan and Criminalization and Prisoners in Japan: Six Contrary Cohorts.