Sentences and Paroles: A Prison Reader

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and honorary chief of the Mi’kmaq of Prince
Edward Island.

It is axiomatic that society must be protected and offenders
appropriately dealt with. But what goes on behind those prison walls?
(Today, there are some 3500 people in Canadian prisons serving sentences
of six years or more.) Drawing on prison records and interviews with
guards and prisoners, the editors of this book attempt to provide an
answer. Among the interviews, those with the inmates (surprisingly
diverse in their responses) are especially compelling. The failure of
the rehabilitation project of Simon Fraser University’s Education
Programme deserves careful study. The danger that is ever-present in
maximum security prisons is startlingly exemplified in various accounts
of the tragic shooting death of a woman prison officer. This book is
full of thoughtful reflections on how we might go about balancing the
need for rehabilitation against the need to ensure the safety of prison
personnel.