Cons and Kernels – 1
By Emily O’Brien. This post is about 500 words and can be read in 2-3 minutes. My name is Emily O’Brien, and this is the first in a few posts that John Howard is going to put on their site...
Read MoreSolitary confinement – A first hand account
This post is about 1200 words and can be read in 5-6 minutes. This post was provided by a former prisoner who wishes to remain anonymous. In light of the current controversy around solitary confinement in Canada, a first-hand account...
Read MoreStormy ways or sunny weather? Prisoners’ views of Canadian prisons
This post is about 1000 words and can be read in about 5 minutes. One of the best ways of understanding the state of an institution is to listen to the people who inhabit it. We learn about the reality...
Read MoreSecurity level explains kinds of violence in Canadian prisons
This post is about 650 words and can be read in 3 minutes. Based on interviews with former male federal prisoners, Memorial University Professor Rose Ricciardelli found that higher levels of security in Canadian prisons produce higher rates of...
Read MoreWalls to Bridges: The Positive Effect of Education in Prison
This post is about 900 words and will take 4-5 minutes to read. For many prisoners, education can be a key component of building a better life as well as making jail a less negative experience. Yet education opportunities have...
Read MoreThe Prison Book Club
Ann Walmsley’s book, The Prison Book Club, is about her experience with a book club that began at Collins Bay Institution and then extended to several other federal prisons Book clubs have become integral parts of many prisons in several...
Read MorePrisontalk.com: A great information source on all things having to do with imprisonment
Reliable information on Canadian prisons and jails is hard to come by. You would think that an institution that deals with many thousands of people each year plus their families and friends, almost always involving a high degree of anxiety,...
Read MorePrisoners’ Stories 3 – Here, Kitty, Kitty…
Note: Parts 1 and 2 of this story appeared last fall. By I.M. GRENADA “When?” For prisoners, that’s the cosmic question. On the civilized side of the fence, common folk regularly rate each other in cash (“So, what do you...
Read MorePrisoners’ Stories: Sisyphus Gets a Sidekick
Sisyphus gets a sidekick I.M. Grenada This is the first of many posts we plan to publish by current and former prisoners about their experiences in the criminal justice system. “Why a cat?” I looked up at the weathered wisp...
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