Books about Correctional from Amazon.com

Previously available only through free distribution to prisons, this life-changing book is the result of charitable donations from sales of Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul and gifts from thousands of individuals.

In the spring of 2000, over 100,000 copies of Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul were distributed to prisoners, prison libraries and prison ministries throughout the United States. The hope was that this collection of stories would touch the hearts of prisoners and offer them hope and encouragement, as well as inspire them to transcend the limiting thinking and behaviors of their past.

The book was so successful that the co-authors soon found themselves flooded with requests for the book from family members, correctional officers, prison volunteers and others. Because of this huge demand, the decision was made to also release the book to the general public.

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Any book that can give voice to the voiceless should be celebrated No one feels this more strongly than Wally Lamb, editor of Couldn't Keep It to Myself, a collection of stories by 11 women imprisoned in the York Correctional Institution in Connecticut. Teacher and novelist Lamb was invited to head a writing workshop at York Correctional Institution in 1999. His somewhat reluctant acceptance soon turned into steadfast advocacy once the women in his charge began to tell their stories. Lamb maintains that there are things we need to know about prison and prisoners: "There are misconceptions to be abandoned, biases to be dropped." However, as heartfelt as his appeal is, nothing speaks more convincingly in this book than the stories themselves.

Those collected here are disturbing and horrific. They reveal, often in graphic detail, the worst kind of abuse: incest, drug addiction, spousal violence, parental neglect, or incompetence. They're also testimony to what social workers and health care professionals have confirmed for years--that those who populate our prisons are often victims first themselves. Thus, the telling of these stories serves as a form of therapy. They are also sad accounts of the brutalities many suffer, yet few discuss: "One day I figured out a dying little girl lived inside of me, so I threw her a lifeline in the form of paper and pen." Considering the degradation the contributors have experienced both in and outside prison, the courage, candor, and honesty with which they speak truly make these stories, as difficult as they are to read, "victories against voicelessness--miracles in print." --Silvana Tropea.
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Most people know it's easier to get into prison than it is to get out. But for a journalist, just getting into Sing Sing, New York's notorious maximum-security prison, isn't easy. In fact, Ted Conover was so stymied by official channels that he took the only way in--other than crime--and became a New York State corrections officer: "I wanted to hear the voices one truly never hears, the voices of guards--those on the front lines of our prison policies, the society's proxies." Newjack is Conover's account of nearly a year at ground zero of the criminal justice system. What it reveals is a mix of the obvious and the absurd, with hypocrisies not unexpected considering that the land of the free shares with Russia the distinction of having the world's largest prison population. As of December 1999, it was projected that the number of people incarcerated in the United States would reach 2 million in 2000.

This is the world Conover enters when he, along with other new recruits, undergoes seven weeks of pseudomilitary preparation at the Albany Training Academy. Then it's off to Sing Sing for the daily grind of prison life. Conover correctly and vividly captures the essence of that life, its tedium interspersed with the adrenaline rush of an "incident" and the edge of fear that accompanies every action. He also details how the guards experience their own feelings of confinement, often at the hands of the inmates:

A consequence of putting men in cells and controlling their movements is that they can do almost nothing for themselves. For their various needs they are dependent on one person, their gallery officer. Instead of feeling like a big, tough guard, the gallery officer at the end of the day often feels like a waiter serving a hundred tables or like the mother of a nightmarishly large brood of sullen, dangerous, and demanding children. When grown men are infantilized, most don't take to it too nicely.

And not taking to it nicely often involves violence. Indeed, the constant potential for violence on any scale makes even humdrum assignments dangerous. It's astonishing that more doesn't happen, given that the majority of the 1,800 inmates have been convicted of violent felonies: murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, assault, kidnapping, burglary, arson. But beneath the simmering rage rests an unexpected sensitivity that Conover captures brilliantly. After encountering a Hispanic inmate with a tattoo of a heartbreaking passage from The Diary of Anne Frank on his back, he writes: "It was easier to stay incurious as an officer. Under the inmates' surface bluster, their cruelty and selfishness, was almost always something ineffably sad." Ultimately, the emphasis of Conover's work is on the toll prison exacts--most immediately on the jailed and their jailers, but also on a society that puts both there in increasing numbers. --Gwen Bloomsburg.
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Now includes a real exam used in previous test administrations Written by the Director of South Carolina Department of Correction, who has more than 30 years of experience as an employee trainer and a prison auditor, this versatile guide addresses all federal, state, municipal and private correction officer exams. Features: * 6 full length practice exams * Intensive subject review and a sample physical fitness course * Career planning advice and information, including salaries, working conditions, and job eligibility requirements.
Price: $10.47 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The number of criminal offenders with mental health problems has increased steadily. Yet few graduate programs offer courses that deal with the many complex assessment, treatment, and management issues encountered by correctional mental health workers.

The Correctional Mental Health Handbook is the first book to offer a comprehensive overview of the services provided by correctional mental health professionals for the various populations found in correctional programs and facilities. Edited by Thomas J. Fagan and Robert K. Ax, experts with over 40 years of correctional mental health experience, this unique handbook is divided into three sections. The first section provides a flexible model for organizing mental health services based on staffing levels, facility mission, and local need. The second section considers typical offender problems in many correctional systems and how they are customarily managed. The third section presents various clinical and consultative activities offered by mental health professionals within correctional settings.

A distinguished group of practitioners and scholars combine years of experience and cutting-edge research to examine

• The ethics of correctional mental health practice
• Practitioner roles within the correctional community
• Core mental health services for both single offenders and special need groups
• Program planning and release preparation for inmates
• Mental health services offered to institution staff
• Training hostage and crisis negotiators
• Future trends in correctional mental health

While the main audience will be correctional mental health professionals and academics involved with training correctional mental health professionals, the Correctional Mental Health Handbook is also an ideal primer for graduate students studying corrections in criminal justice programs. For the student preparing to enter the correctional mental health profession, this indispensable text explains the general characteristics and treatment needs of specific inmate populations including: substance dependent offenders, female offenders, sexual predators, and juvenile offenders.

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Available for the first time in paperback, this low-cost, high-quality guide to music therapy thought, research, and practice is the ideal text for a one semester overview and the perfect handbook for the practicing professional.

You'll find that Davis, Gfeller, and Thaut's detailed descriptions of the populations most likely to receive music therapy are strongly supported by background material and extensive references, helping students build a firm base from which to explore the range of current healing modalities..
Price: $59.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Combining classical and contemporary articles on corrections, this acclaimed anthology traces the history and origins of corrections and punishment in the United States while also examining current issues and trends in the field.
Introductions frame each section and article in the book, guiding students through each set of readings. Key issues and concepts are clearly defined, and insightful discussion questions accompany each article. A comprehensive online Instructor's Manual/Testing Program, written by Barbara Sims, is also available..
Price: $40.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]