Abstract
Rose Ricciardelli’s Surviving Incarceration: Inside Canadian Prisons eliminates “some of the mystery of incarceration … [drawing] attention to some of the inhumanities of prison living … and the structures that reinforce these conditions” (p. 203). Ricciardelli accomplishes this through the analysis and presentation of the lived realities of a heterogeneous group of 56 parolees (i.e., former prisoners) who were incarcerated in 11 federal prisons located in Ontario, Canada.
Ricciardelli conducted in-depth interviews with the former prisoners whose sentences of imprisonment ranged from 2 years to life with parole. Only 12 of the men had served just one federal sentence in their lifetime. The interviews were designed to capture their pre- and postincarceration experiences. Furthermore, Ricciardelli sought to learn about prison and prison living in Canadian federal prisons (where offenders serve sentences of 2 years or more), with a focus on understanding the strategies the men adopted “to identify, evaluate, and manage risks as a means to negotiate their safety” (p. 17) and how these behaviors affected “their potential for rehabilitation” (p. 18). The interview data revealed the prevalence of violence and/or perceived threat of violence in federal penitentiaries in Ontario. The constant threat of violence was a defining feature of daily life for the incarcerated men, as was the need for privacy and personal space in an “abrasive, overcrowded penal climate” (p. 19). These concerns were heightened in higher security facilities. Another major theme that emerged from the data was how the inmate code has evolved and been adapted by male offenders in Ontario prisons for individualistic rather than collective reasons and as a strategy of risk mitigation “in response to the unmistakable risk and threat in the environment” (p. 134).
At the beginning of each chapter, Ricciardelli engages the reader by presenting a powerful vignette in the form of a personal narrative that reveals the diverse life histories, trajectories to imprisonment, and postincarceration experiences of the former prisoners. These lengthy personal narratives provide readers with ample information to consider whether the findings can be appropriately transferred to currently incarcerated male prisoners in Ontario or incarcerated or formerly incarcerated individuals in provincial or federal facilities across Canada and internationally.
Surviving Incarceration begins with an overview of the federal correctional system (i.e., Correctional Service of Canada) including the classification process that highlights the differences in security levels among prisons and prisoners and the differences between federal and provincial corrections in Canada. Utilizing primarily a micro level of analysis, Ricciardelli explores a variety of topics in Chapters 2–6. She discusses the social hierarchy among prisoners and how offenders acquire social status through a combination of criminality, masculinity, and sexuality and notes the absence of argot labels and sexual hierarchies documented in earlier studies of U.S. prisoners. Ricciardelli also discusses how the inmate code has evolved in Canada with inmates adhering to it for personal gain and to minimize their risk of victimization rather than to achieve prisoner solidarity. Chapter 5 presents a compelling discussion about the different types of sex offenders, their location at the bottom of the prisoner social hierarchy, and the challenges this population experiences during their incarceration and upon release into the community, with an emphasis on the role of stigma. Chapter 6 provides an examination of “what works” from the perspective of the former prisoners who viewed rehabilitative programming as a ““joke,” “waste of time,” and “geared toward the wrong ends”” (p. 190) where “those who wanted to make the most of the experience tended to feel they were unable to because of the social pressures within the environment” (p. 191). However, the participants identified work programs and programming for people with mental illnesses as valuable.
Ricciardelli concludes Surviving Incarceration by questioning whether imprisonment is a humane form of punishment and capable of contributing to offender rehabilitation and public safety. This is in question, given that the prisoners’ lives are shaped by their fears of victimization and the need to survive, which can be to the detriment of rehabilitation. This is a pressing question to ask in light of recent changes to sentencing, parole, and prison policies following the passage of Bill C-10, the Safe Streets and Communities Act, in 2012, which increased the length of prison sentences and prison populations across Canada at a time when the federal correctional system is operating with fewer resources due to budget cuts.
Surviving Incarceration is an extremely valuable contribution to the existing literature, providing a nuanced view of the realities of federal incarceration in Ontario, Canada. Building upon the work of researchers who have examined risk as it relates to penal and parole policies, criminal justice issues, and the risks posed by offenders, Ricciardelli focuses on an understudied area of risk; the risk or perceived risk that impacts the experiences of offenders. Further highlighting the important contribution of this work is the reality that the majority of corrections-related research conducted in Canada to date has not included the voices and experiences of prisoners.
What would further strengthen Ricciardelli’s work is the inclusion of critical analysis of how race affects an offender’s risk of victimization and their perception of risk, given her discussion about the diversity of risks prisoners experience depending on their personal attributes, among other factors. This analysis would contribute greatly to her work, given that Aboriginals and Black Canadians are overrepresented in the federal inmate population. However, it is important to note that the majority of Ricciardelli’s sample self-identified as White (n = 31), so critical analysis of how race impacts an offender’s experiences of incarceration is likely better suited to future research conducted by Ricciardelli.
Surviving Incarceration is an informative and stimulating read that is highly recommended to undergraduate students, scholars, community members, and policy makers interested in criminology, criminal justice, sentencing, “doing time,” and corrections.