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Disruptive Prisoners
Resistance, Reform, and the New Deal
Chris Clarkson (Author), Melissa Munn (Author)
9781487508531
Hardback, published 21 July 2021
320 pages, 51 b&w illustrations
23.5 x 15.5 x 2.3 cm, 0.58 kg
"Including prisoner stories in an historical context provided a more nuanced and complicated reframing of the post-Archambault Commission era." "The pair [Clarkson and Munn] writes with a cohesive voice, and considering the polyvocal and collective biographical approach they take towards their writing, this is impressive."
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.
Acknowledgments Introduction Serendipity: Finding Voices Section One: Disrupting the Old Order 1. Riots and Reform: Political Action and the Making of the Archambault Report The Protest 2. The Blueprint for the New Deal: The Archambault Commission Re-envisions Reform Royal Commission Mandate and Findings Section Two: Disruptive Influences 3. "Men Who Beefed": Writing the New Deal The Creation of the Penal Press in Canada 4. The New Deal: Same as the Old Deal? Classification and Segregation 5. Time Off: Clemency, Remission, and Parole Good Time 6. New Deal/Old Deal Discontent and Censorship The Official Face of Reform Conclusion Talk of Violence, Mismanagement, and Progressive Reform Appendix A: Excerpts from Commissioner’s Annual Reports detailing Psychiatric Services 1947–1957 Bibliography
Preface
Writing a Social History of Prisons
Study Parameters and Limitations
Organization of this Book
Causes of the Riot
Context of Resistance
The Illusion of Reform
Riots and Revelations: Deconstructing the Narrative
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
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
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?
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?
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
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 B: Article Refused for Publication in Pathfinder 1953
Endnotes