Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Everyone should read this. EVERYONE. I'm so distraught yet hopeful for justice as a journey (thankful she ended in Norway!) that I can't even fully write a meaningful review. Just read it. Be informed. Be conscious.
Interesting surface-level look at how prisons in other countries are run.
This didn't quite get going for me until the chapter on Thailand - from there, I felt like the book had found its footing more comfortably. For anyone who's ever wondered how other countries handle justice and punishment, and how well their systems work (or don't), this is an interesting read.
The book greatly suffers from its framework: it's written like a travel memoir rather than a work of scholarship or investigative journalism, and that has the unfortunate consequences of centering the writer's whiteness/discomfort and burying the important data in extraneous details and descriptions. Was tired of it after the first few pages, and ended up skimming for data by the end.
informative
medium-paced
Well-crafted analysis of prison systems all over the world. Baz highlights importance of restorative justice and mending broken relationships that have been caused by the incarceration system. Historical and economic forces have led the US to spread the culture of controlled punitive environments that are meant to reform; only all they bring is increased rates of mental illnesses, further isolations from the social order, and ruined lives. As she says, all one can do is learn more about the system and spread the word. Bit by bit we can change society and bring down large systems that are keeping thousands undernourished on a social, physical and emotional scale.
"Crime is disrespect and irresponsibility, goes the lesson. We don't need more punishment; we need to address broken relationships... Instead of asking, as traditional criminal justice does, what laws have been broken, who broke these laws and how we can punish those who broke them.. restorative justice asks altogether different questions. Who's been hurt? What are their needs? How can we meet those needs?"
From economist Glenn Loury, "our society - the society together we have made first tolerates crime - promoting conditions in our sprawling urban ghettoes, and then goes on to act out rituals of punishment against them as some awful form of human sacrifice."
"Arts-in-prison programs are potent agents of individual change, yes. But are they also in some way a distraction from the whole social order itself, from the powerful forces at play in the criminal justice system as a whole? They're smoke screens, obstructing our view of the big picture, which is that when it comes to justice and safety and humane treatment, prisons simply don't make sense. Big-picture change is not about tinkering with or enhancing what is, but conjuring up bold imaginings of what could be. For all that I love and believe in it, art can be an obstacle to such imaginings because of the very thing it does so well: dazzle us, and then distract us, with beauty."
"The only reason these boys aren't in the community, with their families, is because we as a society are risk-averse. But we'll never have a risk-free society. There's liable to be a crime tonight - there's nothing we can do about it. Risk is built into life. A life ruled by fear is not living. Fear builds prisons."
"Crime is disrespect and irresponsibility, goes the lesson. We don't need more punishment; we need to address broken relationships... Instead of asking, as traditional criminal justice does, what laws have been broken, who broke these laws and how we can punish those who broke them.. restorative justice asks altogether different questions. Who's been hurt? What are their needs? How can we meet those needs?"
From economist Glenn Loury, "our society - the society together we have made first tolerates crime - promoting conditions in our sprawling urban ghettoes, and then goes on to act out rituals of punishment against them as some awful form of human sacrifice."
"Arts-in-prison programs are potent agents of individual change, yes. But are they also in some way a distraction from the whole social order itself, from the powerful forces at play in the criminal justice system as a whole? They're smoke screens, obstructing our view of the big picture, which is that when it comes to justice and safety and humane treatment, prisons simply don't make sense. Big-picture change is not about tinkering with or enhancing what is, but conjuring up bold imaginings of what could be. For all that I love and believe in it, art can be an obstacle to such imaginings because of the very thing it does so well: dazzle us, and then distract us, with beauty."
"The only reason these boys aren't in the community, with their families, is because we as a society are risk-averse. But we'll never have a risk-free society. There's liable to be a crime tonight - there's nothing we can do about it. Risk is built into life. A life ruled by fear is not living. Fear builds prisons."
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I appreciated the author discussing the success of restorative justice programs while also recognizing their limitations as ancillary programs rather then the main mechanisms driving justice systems.
I was a bit turned off by the authors insertions of herself in story lines that didn’t benefit from them. Parts came off a bit white savior-ish.
I was a bit turned off by the authors insertions of herself in story lines that didn’t benefit from them. Parts came off a bit white savior-ish.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I read this book for my Social Justice class and I had the honor of meeting the author (and having her sign my book).
This book was insanely good. Our class had just read [b:The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness|6792458|The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness|Michelle Alexander|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328751532s/6792458.jpg|6996712] prior to this and this book out shined it in comparison. The New Jim Crow left me dissatisfied at the end, offering me no real, clear, solution to the problem. This book, however, did and gave me hope for the future. Additionally, her writing style is incredible. It's so engaging and she really takes you on a journey. She has a way of making some big points in really subtle ways.
As for meeting her, she is just as wonderful in person and she really is doing so much for prison reform and mass incarceration. She is working on so many new projects. Her optimism is inspiring.
This book was insanely good. Our class had just read [b:The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness|6792458|The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness|Michelle Alexander|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328751532s/6792458.jpg|6996712] prior to this and this book out shined it in comparison. The New Jim Crow left me dissatisfied at the end, offering me no real, clear, solution to the problem. This book, however, did and gave me hope for the future. Additionally, her writing style is incredible. It's so engaging and she really takes you on a journey. She has a way of making some big points in really subtle ways.
As for meeting her, she is just as wonderful in person and she really is doing so much for prison reform and mass incarceration. She is working on so many new projects. Her optimism is inspiring.
Well-crafted analysis of prison systems all over the world. Baz highlights importance of restorative justice and mending broken relationships that have been caused by the incarceration system. Historical and economic forces have led the US to spread the culture of controlled punitive environments that are meant to reform; only all they bring is increased rates of mental illnesses, further isolations from the social order, and ruined lives. As she says, all one can do is learn more about the system and spread the word. Bit by bit we can change society and bring down large systems that are keeping thousands undernourished on a social, physical and emotional scale.
"Crime is disrespect and irresponsibility, goes the lesson. We don't need more punishment; we need to address broken relationships... Instead of asking, as traditional criminal justice does, what laws have been broken, who broke these laws and how we can punish those who broke them.. restorative justice asks altogether different questions. Who's been hurt? What are their needs? How can we meet those needs?"
From economist Glenn Loury, "our society - the society together we have made first tolerates crime - promoting conditions in our sprawling urban ghettoes, and then goes on to act out rituals of punishment against them as some awful form of human sacrifice."
"Arts-in-prison programs are potent agents of individual change, yes. But are they also in some way a distraction from the whole social order itself, from the powerful forces at play in the criminal justice system as a whole? They're smoke screens, obstructing our view of the big picture, which is that when it comes to justice and safety and humane treatment, prisons simply don't make sense. Big-picture change is not about tinkering with or enhancing what is, but conjuring up bold imaginings of what could be. For all that I love and believe in it, art can be an obstacle to such imaginings because of the very thing it does so well: dazzle us, and then distract us, with beauty."
"The only reason these boys aren't in the community, with their families, is because we as a society are risk-averse. But we'll never have a risk-free society. There's liable to be a crime tonight - there's nothing we can do about it. Risk is built into life. A life ruled by fear is not living. Fear builds prisons."
"Crime is disrespect and irresponsibility, goes the lesson. We don't need more punishment; we need to address broken relationships... Instead of asking, as traditional criminal justice does, what laws have been broken, who broke these laws and how we can punish those who broke them.. restorative justice asks altogether different questions. Who's been hurt? What are their needs? How can we meet those needs?"
From economist Glenn Loury, "our society - the society together we have made first tolerates crime - promoting conditions in our sprawling urban ghettoes, and then goes on to act out rituals of punishment against them as some awful form of human sacrifice."
"Arts-in-prison programs are potent agents of individual change, yes. But are they also in some way a distraction from the whole social order itself, from the powerful forces at play in the criminal justice system as a whole? They're smoke screens, obstructing our view of the big picture, which is that when it comes to justice and safety and humane treatment, prisons simply don't make sense. Big-picture change is not about tinkering with or enhancing what is, but conjuring up bold imaginings of what could be. For all that I love and believe in it, art can be an obstacle to such imaginings because of the very thing it does so well: dazzle us, and then distract us, with beauty."
"The only reason these boys aren't in the community, with their families, is because we as a society are risk-averse. But we'll never have a risk-free society. There's liable to be a crime tonight - there's nothing we can do about it. Risk is built into life. A life ruled by fear is not living. Fear builds prisons."