Beyond Bars: Rejoining Society After Prison Author: Visit Amazon's Jeffrey Ian Ross Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1592578519 | Format: PDF
Beyond Bars: Rejoining Society After Prison Description
About the Author
Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice, College of Public Affairs, and a Research Fellow of the Center for International and Comparative Law, at the University of Baltimore. He is the author of several books including
Special Problems in Corrections (Prentice Hall, 2007). During the 1980's, Ross worked almost four years in a correctional facility. In 2005-2006 he was a member of the Prisoner/Prisoner Advocate Liaison Group for the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine committee examining ethics and research with prisoners.
Stephen C. Richards, Ph.D., is a professor of criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. In 1983, he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Richards was sentenced to 9 years and served time in 9 federal prisons. Released from federal prison in 1987, he completed his M.A. in sociology (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1989) and Ph.D. in Sociology (Iowa State University, 1992). His work has appeared in numerous academic journals.
Jeffrey Ian Ross and Stephen C. Richards are also the authors of
Behind Bars (Alpha/Penguin, 2002) and
Convict Criminology (Wadsworth, 2003).
- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: ALPHA; 1 edition (July 7, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1592578519
- ISBN-13: 978-1592578511
- Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
This book really opened my eyes to just how difficult it is for one to make it in the outside world after doing a stint in prison. For those looking to turn their lives around after doing their time, they enter a world where not many people want to give them a second chance. Many employers will not consider hiring ex-cons and many other employers can't even if they wanted to. When they do find a job, their ex-con status automatically makes them the prime suspect or scapegoat if anything goes wrong in the office (such as a theft). In this book, Jeffrey Ross and Stephen Richards carefully outlines all of these minefields and gives good advice on how to steer clear of them.
For example, the book recommends that you avoid owning a car (at least during your probation period) due to the simple fact that cops run plates of cars as a matter of routine while on their shifts. When a plate number comes back as registered to somebody who is on probation, more often than not, they are going assume the worst and pull that car over to check things out. Anybody who has seen a few episodes of COPS will know how quickly those "routine stops" can take a turn for the worse. If a passenger in your car is doing or holding something illegal, even if you don't know about it, guess who's going back to jail.
The United States has a staggering amount of people who have gotten tangled up in the criminal justice system, many of whom initially got in for relatively minor, non-violent offenses. But once you get a felony rap on your record, the odds are against you going forward, especially in the age of the Internet where neighbors and employers can easily access your record and blacklist you.
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