Book Review: Prison Violence in America
by M. Braswell, R. Montgomery and L. Lombardy.
The book opens with a letter from George Jackson, excerpted from Soledad Brothers. What follows is a rather detailed and scholarly examination of numerous aspects of prison violence. Included are chapters on the impact of Ruiz v. Estelle, a historical-statistical overview of prison riots, a detailed analysis of the Attica and Santa Fe riots, theories about the causes of prison riots, prisoner on prisoner violence, prison rape, prisoner on staff violence, staff on prisoner violence, political culture and its impact on staff violence, and more. The book is well seasoned with charts, numbers, graphs, and each chapter is topped off with footnotes and exhaustive source material references. The analysis of the Santa Fe and Attica riots seemed particularly relevant to current events. It would be wise for law makers and prison policy makers to dust off this historical information... or be condemned to repeating it. Cost is $28.95.
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