Disruptive Prisoners reconstitutes the history of Canada's federal prison system in the mid-twentieth century through a process of collective biography
one involving prisoners, administrators, prison reformers, and politicians. This social history relies on extensive archival research and access to government documents, but more importantly, uses the penal press materials created by prisoners themselves and an interview with one of the founding penal press editors to provide a unique and unprecedented analysis.
Disruptive Prisoners is grounded in the lived experiences of men who were incarcerated in federal penitentiaries in Canada and argues that they were not merely passive recipients of intervention. Evidence indicates that prisoners were active agents of change who advocated for and resisted the initiatives that were part of Canada's ""New Deal in Corrections."" While prisoners are silent in other criminological and historical texts, here they are central figures: the juxtaposition of their voices with the official administrative, parliamentary, and government records challenges the dominant tropes of progress and provides a more nuanced and complicated reframing of the post-Archambault Commission era.
The use of an alternative evidential base, the commitment of the authors to integrating subaltern perspectives, and the first-hand accounts by prisoners of their experiences of incarceration makes this book a highly readable and engaging glimpse behind the bars of Canada's federal prisons.
By:
Chris Clarkson,
Melissa Munn
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 19mm
Weight: 460g
ISBN: 9781487525910
ISBN 10: 1487525915
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 20 July 2021
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgments Preface Introduction Serendipity: Finding Voices Writing a Social History of Prisons Study Parameters and Limitations Organization of this Book Section One: Disrupting the Old Order 1. Riots and Reform: Political Action and the Making of the Archambault Report The Protest Causes of the Riot Context of Resistance The Illusion of Reform Riots and Revelations: Deconstructing the Narrative 2. The Blueprint for the New Deal: The Archambault Commission Re-envisions Reform Royal Commission Mandate and Findings Prison Conditions Recommendations of the Archambault Report Classification, Segregation, and the Protection of Young Prisoners The Borstal Ascendency in Canadian Penitentiaries Consolidation of Governance Reception of the Report Post-War Pressure for Implementation The Gibson Report Sauvant’s Progress Gibson’s Plan Section Two: Disruptive Influences 3. “Men Who Beefed”: Writing the New Deal The Creation of the Penal Press in Canada The Penal Press Expands Taking Shape: The Technical Aspects of the Penal Press The Penal Press Finds Purpose “Prisoners are People” and the “New Deal” Materialize Strength in Numbers: The Penal Press Goes International “Keeping It Real” or “What to Write about in the Penal Press” The Difficulties of Being THE Voice of Prisoners 4. The New Deal: Same as the Old Deal? Classification and Segregation Using Classification to Achieve a Rehabilitated Subject Achieving Security and Efficiency through Classification and Segregation Reducing Idleness through Classification Staying Connected: Visitation and Correspondence in Prison Education and Vocational Training Work and Industry Mollycoddling and the Defense of the New Deal The New Deal… Same as the Old Deal? 5. Time Off: Clemency, Remission, and Parole Good Time The First-Year Problem The Earned/Lost Problem Acts of Grace Amnesty Remission Branch – Royal Prerogative of Mercy Remission Branch – Ticket-Of-Leave Parole Autonomy Board Composition Interim Progress: Automatic Review Disappointment: Prisoners Are People but We Don’t Need to Meet Them Disappointment: Denial of Parole Disappointment: Drug Addicts and Alcoholics Getting the Public On-Side Early Progress Reports Reason for Optimism? 6. New Deal/Old Deal Discontent and Censorship The Official Face of Reform The Contested View of Reform Situation Critical: The New Deal Riot Antecedents to the Riot: Daily Life and Overcrowding Censorship: Controlling the New Deal’s Narrative Conclusion Talk of Violence, Mismanagement, and Progressive Reform A Story of Uneven Progress Disrupting Methodology: On the Importance of Muti-vocality/History from Below Disrupting the Idea that Change Comes from the Top Disrupting the Idea that “We Blew It” Disrupting the “Con” Disrupting Singular Narratives Appendix A: Excerpts from Commissioner’s Annual Reports detailing Psychiatric Services 1947–1957 Appendix B: Article Refused for Publication in Pathfinder 1953 Bibliography Endnotes
Chris Clarkson is a professor in the Department of History at Okanagan College. Melissa Munn is a professor in the Department of Sociology at Okanagan College.
Reviews for Disruptive Prisoners: Resistance, Reform, and the New Deal
A fascinating new analysis of Canadian prison history, with a focus on the voice of federal prisoners. The newsmagazines of the incarcerated - the penal press - offer us a riveting window into how progressive reforms played out on the ground. This is a critical contribution to our ongoing debate over prison reform or prison abolition. - Constance Backhouse, Distinguished University Professor and University Research Chair at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa By giving a voice to long-silenced prisoners, Disruptive Prisoners may be the first genuine social history of the prison. By far the most original, engrossing, and important work in historical criminology in decades, this groundbreaking study should forever change the way the story of prison is told. - Shadd Maruna, Professor of Criminology, Queen's University Belfast This is a striking interdisciplinary work that centres the voices of imprisoned people in a history of penitentiaries in the twentieth century. Clarkson and Munn use an incredible range of newly discovered sources to write resistance and struggle into prison history and illustrate Canada's complicated legacy of failure and reform. A remarkable contribution to Canadian prison history. - Ted McCoy, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Calgary
