Author: Berghahn Journals Simon
Publisher: Berghahn Books
E-ISSN: 1752-2293|23|3|103-118
ISSN: 0011-1570
Source: Critical Survey, Vol.23, Iss.3, 2011-12, pp. : 103-118
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
Abstract
This article explores how the rehabilitative discourse of the American prison system shapes the writings of American prisoners. The article begins by tracing how the conversion narrative underpins prison reformers' theories of prison rehabilitation. Then, the article considers how American prisoners like Caryl Chessman, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Malcolm X, George Jackson, and Jack Henry Abbott use the conversion narrative and theories of rehabilitation in their life writings. The article argues that prisoners' life writings do not, as is often presumed, 'write back to power' so much as invoke competing discourses that contest but also reinforce the ideology of the American prison system.
Related content
Critical Survey, Vol. 23, Iss. 3, 2011-12 ,pp. :
Critical Survey, Vol. 9, Iss. 1, 1997-03 ,pp. :
'Reading for Life': Prison Reading Groups in Practice and Theory
Critical Survey, Vol. 23, Iss. 3, 2011-12 ,pp. :
Shakespeare and 'the personal story'
By Berghahn Journals Katherine Berghahn Journals Graham
Critical Survey, Vol. 21, Iss. 3, 2009-12 ,pp. :
Nothing But the Same Old Story
Critical Survey, Vol. 15, Iss. 1, 2003-03 ,pp. :