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Book Review: Prison Crisis

Book Review: Prison Crisis 278 BOOK REVIEWS (1982) 15 ANZJ Crim The turbulent political activity of the 1960s changed dramatically the prisoners' conception of political authority. In 1958 Graham Sykes found that prisoners viewed the prison administration as a legitimate agent of state power. Ten years later Berkman discovered the opposite: prisoners generally regarded the administration as a lawless body, unwilling to follow legal rules and procedures and unprepared to yield any portion of its power. For the prisoners, the administration was seen as a force resisting court-ordered charges and a group of bureaucrats concealing its activities from the public. During the years of Berkman's study (1964-1972) there was a diminution of political activity amongst prisoners partly based on fear of reprisals from prison administrators. Most prisoners were not involved in political problems and issues inside institutions because, in the words of one prisoner: "In order for the prisoner to be involved, they got to believe it is going to do some good. They could stop all the violence. The violence is a reaction to powerlessness." While most prisoners were not involved in the prisoners movement, most had an overwhelming feeling that they should be deeply involved. So, what has happened is that http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology SAGE

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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© The Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology and Authors, 1982
ISSN
0004-8658
eISSN
1837-9273
DOI
10.1177/000486588201500413
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

278 BOOK REVIEWS (1982) 15 ANZJ Crim The turbulent political activity of the 1960s changed dramatically the prisoners' conception of political authority. In 1958 Graham Sykes found that prisoners viewed the prison administration as a legitimate agent of state power. Ten years later Berkman discovered the opposite: prisoners generally regarded the administration as a lawless body, unwilling to follow legal rules and procedures and unprepared to yield any portion of its power. For the prisoners, the administration was seen as a force resisting court-ordered charges and a group of bureaucrats concealing its activities from the public. During the years of Berkman's study (1964-1972) there was a diminution of political activity amongst prisoners partly based on fear of reprisals from prison administrators. Most prisoners were not involved in political problems and issues inside institutions because, in the words of one prisoner: "In order for the prisoner to be involved, they got to believe it is going to do some good. They could stop all the violence. The violence is a reaction to powerlessness." While most prisoners were not involved in the prisoners movement, most had an overwhelming feeling that they should be deeply involved. So, what has happened is that

Journal

Australian & New Zealand Journal of CriminologySAGE

Published: Dec 1, 1982

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