This upper-level undergraduate seminar focuses on how prisoners
adapt and cope with imprisonment. A central theme of the assigned
readings is the examination of how gender, race, and pre-
imprisonment socialization and lifestyle experiences influence
adaptation to imprisonment. Among the specific topics that will be
discussed include the social construction of gender identity in
prison, race and gender variations in styles of coping with
imprisonment, violence in prison and new directions in the
management and rehabilitative treatment of prisoners who are elderly
or HIV positive, and the challenges associated with the transition
from prison to the community following a period of incarceration.
Major emphasis will be placed on examining women in prison, the
impact of imprisonment on prisoners’ families and the various
challenges associated with prisoner reentry. Final grade will be
based on evaluation of six essay critiques of assigned readings and
a 15 page position paper. In addition, two class trips are planned
to tour an adult male and female correctional facility.

Readings:
Boothe, Demico (2007). Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A
Comprehensive Account of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become
A Predatory Entity In The Lives Of African-American Men
ISBN-13: 978-0979295300

Girshick, Lori B. (1999). No Safe Haven-Stories of Women in Prison.
Boston: Northeastern University Press.
ISBN: 1-555553-467-8


Braman, Donald (2007). Doing Time on the Outside: Incarceration and
Family Life in Urban America. University of Michigan Press (August
6, 2007)
ISBN-13: 978-0472032693

Class meeting:  Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30-3:45

Instructor:  Professor William Oliver, criminal justice department