Disruptive Prisoners: Resistance, Reform, and the New Deal

Acknowledgments
Preface

Introduction

Serendipity: Finding Voices
Writing a Social History of Prisons
Study Parameters and Limitations
Organization of this Book

Section One: Disrupting the Old Order

1. Riots and Reform: Political Action and the Making of the Archambault Report

The Protest
Causes of the Riot
Context of Resistance
The Illusion of Reform
Riots and Revelations: Deconstructing the Narrative

2. The Blueprint for the New Deal: The Archambault Commission Re-envisions Reform

Royal Commission Mandate and Findings
Prison Conditions
Recommendations of the Archambault Report
Classification, Segregation, and the Protection of Young Prisoners
The Borstal Ascendency in Canadian Penitentiaries
Consolidation of Governance
Reception of the Report
Post-War Pressure for Implementation
The Gibson Report
Sauvant’s Progress
Gibson’s Plan

Section Two: Disruptive Influences

3. “Men Who Beefed”: Writing the New Deal

The Creation of the Penal Press in Canada
The Penal Press Expands
Taking Shape: The Technical Aspects of the Penal Press
The Penal Press Finds Purpose
“Prisoners are People” and the “New Deal” Materialize
Strength in Numbers: The Penal Press Goes International
“Keeping It Real” or “What to Write about in the Penal Press”
The Difficulties of Being THE Voice of Prisoners

4. The New Deal: Same as the Old Deal?

Classification and Segregation
Using Classification to Achieve a Rehabilitated Subject
Achieving Security and Efficiency through Classification and Segregation
Reducing Idleness through Classification
Staying Connected: Visitation and Correspondence in Prison
Education and Vocational Training
Work and Industry
Mollycoddling and the Defense of the New Deal
The New Deal… Same as the Old Deal?

5. Time Off: Clemency, Remission, and Parole

Good Time
The First-Year Problem
The Earned/Lost Problem
Acts of Grace
Amnesty
Remission Branch – Royal Prerogative of Mercy
Remission Branch – Ticket-Of-Leave
Parole
Autonomy
Board Composition
Interim Progress: Automatic Review
Disappointment: Prisoners Are People but We Don’t Need to Meet Them
Disappointment: Denial of Parole
Disappointment: Drug Addicts and Alcoholics
Getting the Public On-Side
Early Progress Reports
Reason for Optimism?

6. New Deal/Old Deal Discontent and Censorship

The Official Face of Reform
The Contested View of Reform
Situation Critical: The New Deal Riot
Antecedents to the Riot: Daily Life and Overcrowding
Censorship: Controlling the New Deal’s Narrative

Conclusion

Talk of Violence, Mismanagement, and Progressive Reform
A Story of Uneven Progress
Disrupting Methodology: On the Importance of Muti-vocality/History from Below
Disrupting the Idea that Change Comes from the Top
Disrupting the Idea that “We Blew It”
Disrupting the “Con”
Disrupting Singular Narratives

Appendix A: Excerpts from Commissioner’s Annual Reports detailing Psychiatric Services 1947–1957
Appendix B: Article Refused for Publication in Pathfinder 1953

Bibliography
Endnotes