PRISON PUZZLE PIECES (the first of a three volume series) is a non-fiction account of a corrections officer working in Stillwater Prison in Minnesota after he stopped traveling the country performing standup comedy and improv. Through examples, explanations and experiences, he explains how the entire system works, piece by piece, by presenting hundreds of events that occurred in that dysfunctional little city contained within those walls and razor ribbon. His unique perspectives earned him the respect of inmates and officers; on the other hand his life was in constant danger from other inmates and officers for him doing his job ethically. All of this is presented from the author’s unique perspective. It contains some historic background and events pertaining to that prison; such as the infamous Younger Brothers. There is no way to explain every aspect of this restricted society, but these books come close. Many of the things that go on in the prison that have life and death consequences and are shocking can also have a very humorous side. Background on the officer is given to help you to understand how he made his decisions, whether you agree with them or not. Officers are gradually educated through strange and bizarre experiences on the job that can’t be imagined. Letters from the inmates to the officer give insight to their various states of mind. You will learn of the different areas of the prison such as visiting, shakedown, dining hall, cell blocks, segregation, etc., how it all works and what goes on there that can be inspiring or downright disgusting. Many strange relationship dynamics exist like the officers best mentor being a convicted mass murderer, inmates that break their code and have his back, the institutions most feared inmate becoming his friend, corrupt officers harassing him and deliberately placing him in dangerous situations, and inmate relationships of all sorts. Nothing is embellished. Nothing need be embellished.

PRISON PUZZLE PIECES 3 (the third of a three volume series) is a non-fiction account of a corrections officer working in Stillwater Prison in Minnesota after he stopped traveling the country performing standup comedy and improv. Through examples, explanations and experiences, he explains how the entire system works, piece by piece, by presenting hundreds of events that occurred in that dysfunctional little city contained within those walls and razor ribbon. His unique perspectives earned him the respect of inmates and officers; on the other hand his life was in constant danger from other inmates and officers for him doing his job ethically. PRISON PUZZLE PIECES 3 presents the more humorous side of what goes on in prisons along with some of the more disgusting things that must be dealt with. How the education department, canteen, gangs, Native Americans, towers, unions, liars, smuggling, tattooing, violations, religion, industry, health care, recreation and more all play a role in this dysfunctional society. As in all of these volumes, infamous criminals in the system are presented, inmate grievances & requests written to the author, good & bad inmates, good and bad officers, and many more puzzle pieces. Nothing is embellished. Nothing need be embellished.

PRISON PUZZLE PIECES 2 (the second of a three volume series) is a non-fiction account of a corrections officer working in Stillwater Prison in Minnesota after he stopped traveling the country performing standup comedy and improv. Through examples, explanations and experiences, he explains how the entire system works, piece by piece, by presenting hundreds of events that occurred in that dysfunctional little city contained within those walls and razor ribbon. His unique perspectives earned him the respect of inmates and officers; on the other hand his life was in constant danger from other inmates and officers for him doing his job ethically. These books are presented from the author’s unique perspective. They contain some historic background and events pertaining to that prison; such as the infamous Younger Brothers. There is no way to explain every aspect of this restricted society, but these books come close. Many of the things that go on in the prison that have life and death consequences and are shocking can also have a very humorous side. Background on the officer is given to help you to understand how he made his decisions, whether you agree with them or not. Officers are gradually educated through strange and bizarre experiences on the job that can’t be imagined. Letters from the inmates to the officer give insight to their various states of mind. You will learn of the different areas of the prison such as visiting, shakedown, dining hall, cell blocks, segregation, etc., how it all works and what goes on there that can be inspiring or downright disgusting. Many strange relationship dynamics exist like the officers best mentor being a convicted mass murderer, inmates that break their code and have his back, the institutions most feared inmate becoming his friend, corrupt officers harassing him and deliberately placing him in dangerous situations, and inmate relationships of all sorts. Nothing is embellished. Nothing need be embellished.

According to Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) ‘Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.’ Connecting the politics of abolition to wider emancipatory struggles for liberation and social justice, this book argues that penal abolitionism should be understood as an important public critical pedagogy and philosophy of hope that can help to reinvigorate democracy and set society on a pathway towards living in a world without prisons. For Abolition draws upon the socialist ethics of dignity, empathy, freedom and paradigm of life to systematically critique imprisonment as a state institution characterised by ‘social death’. A systematic critique of imprisonment which challenges established views and myths. Examines why there still exists so much political and other misguided support for a long failing institution. Reviews ‘A thoroughly engaging and passionate challenge to dominant understandings of crime and punishment … Prisons are revealed as sites of mental and physical brutality, utterly incapable of providing constructive transformative regimes’-- Professor Emma Bell, University of Savoie. ‘A timely and urgent reminder of the need for Abolition … excellently exposes prisons as institutions of domination, repression and power … A must read for all concerned with the state of prisons’-- Dr Kathryn Chadwick, Manchester Metropolitan University. ‘A book that should be cherished by scholars, students, practitioners and activists alike … it is rare to find a text so sensitively and empathically composed’-- Dr Alana Barton, Edge Hill University.

Many people think prisons are all the same-rows of cells filled with violent men who officials rule with an iron fist. Yet, life behind bars varies in incredible ways. In some facilities, prison officials govern with care and attention to prisoners' needs. In others, officials have remarkably little influence on the everyday life of prisoners, sometimes not even providing necessities like food and clean water. Why does prison social order around the world look so remarkably different? In The Puzzle of Prison Order, David Skarbek develops a theory of why prisons and prison life vary so much. He finds that how they're governed-sometimes by the state, and sometimes by the prisoners-matters the most. He investigates life in a wide array of prisons-in Brazil, Bolivia, Norway, a prisoner of war camp, England and Wales, women's prisons in California, and a gay and transgender housing unit in the Los Angeles County Jail-to understand the hierarchy of life on the inside. Drawing on economics and a vast empirical literature on legal systems, Skarbek offers a framework to not only understand why life on the inside varies in such fascinating and novel ways, but also how social order evolves and takes root behind bars.

This book is a picture of prison life from the inside. It illustrates prison life as, at turns, exciting, surprising, distressing and, often, amusing. Each day is different, and anyone who walks through a prison gate had better be alert. It tells of the small human dramas that play out daily among staff, prisoners, and others who enter this gated world. It calls the reader to see that justice begins by seeing each person, staff or prisoner, as an individual with his or her own story. The passion of the author is to portray prison life as continuous with life in broader society. In prisons, we meet the same cast of characters, the same temptations, the same dangers, and the same rewards as on the outside. Rather than regarding prisons as separate worlds, we should regard them as extensions of the society in which we live. This is important because there is a continuous flow between prisons and the broader society. Those who go to prison usually return to society. Understanding how prisons work will help us as we consider how to reintegrate former prisoners into our society. As the author argues, this is difficult but important work.

A grand mansion. An elegant dinner party. One grisly murder after another. When guests arrive at the manor, they expect a lavish retreat, but what was supposed to be a promising week soon turns into a horrific nightmare when they discover that a killer is among them. As the guests are picked off one by one, the killer toys with the remaining guests by leaving riddles, inviting them to use forensic science to solve the crimes. The party soon dwindles until there are only three remaining guests: the winner, the loser, and the killer. It’s a true survival of the fittest as they scramble to find the killer first... before it’s too late.