A Deputy Wardens Reflections on Prison Work
Adria L. Libolt
RESOURCE Publications - Eugene, Oregon
A Deputy Wardens Reflections on Prison Work
Copyright 2012 Adria L. Libolt. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Resource Publications
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
ISBN 13: 978-1-61097-872-9
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Permission for The Middleburg Press for Wilhelmina from Sietze Bunings book Style and Class copyright @ Middleburg Press, 105 Kansas Ave. NW, Orange City, IA 51041
Adria Libolt tells compassionate, tough stories about young people in reform schools and adults in maximum-security prisons. She layers each story with nuance, irony, and breadth to show why she feels it is a thin line between a prisoner and the rest of us. Even as she acknowledges the dangers, she feels safer in prison than outside. This book will complicate your perspective on prisoners and the prison system.
Linda R. Peckham
Author of The Pocket Hotline for Writers
Adria Libolt offers an insightful, compelling perspective on the myriad of issues surrounding our countrys corrections systems. This inside look at prison life would be extremely valuable to anyone in a position like mine that requires us to not only take a critical, thoughtful look at whats happening in our corrections system, but to make policy decisions that will have far-reaching consequences for the state and for the employees and prisoners closest to those systems.
Joan Bauer
Legislator
Michigan House of Representatives
Foreword
Y ou would probably do a double take seeing Adria Libolt behind the wardens desk or anyplace else inside a prison, even a prison housing women. She is petite, soft-spoken, and very proper. A former researcher who decided to become part of the action, in this book she relates her experiences and observations of prison life, each experience a short story in itself. Each one relates a lesson, expresses a value, or warns about judgments that Libolt herself had to learn.
As a coworker in the corrections field, I found Libolt to be straightforward, honest, considerate, and respectful of others whether they were superior or subordinate in rank, a coworker or another agency representative, an offender or offender family member. While some, and maybe many, thought it peculiar that a woman of her makeup would be working in the prison setting, she quickly gained their confidence and provided the leadership her various positions demanded. As an experienced corrections administrator, I am impressed with the details she points out in her writings, details many corrections workers might overlook or consider too trivial to be concerned with. This is especially true in regard to actions dealing with other humans.
This I learned long before I read her book when presenting speeches as the corrections director. I would often break the ice by telling the fictitious story of attending a banquet at one of the prisons. Baked potatoes were served and I asked the inmate server if I could have an extra pat of butter for my potato. No sir he responded. One potato, one pat of butter. I thought to myself, This guy doesnt realize who I am. I beckoned for him to come back and inquired, Do you know who I am? No sir he replied. Well, Im the Director of the Department of Corrections. Im in charge of all the Wardens, Im in charge of the Parole Board, Im in charge of Probation and Parole officers and correction centers. He said, I see sir. And do you know who I am? I had a reputation for knowing the names of inmates, but did not know this one. Sheepishly, I said, No sir, I dont. Who are you? Without hesitation, he loudly proclaimed, Im the guy in charge of the butter!
While I assume most folks saw the humor in the story, Adria recognized that everyone needs to feel in charge of something they can be proud of and that we need to acknowledge and respect that. She also pointed out that others might not ascribe the same importance to our positions as we do.
Throughout the book, Libolt relates stories of peopleand not just prisonersnot willing to accept responsibilities for their actions, many times trying to make others appear responsible for their misconduct or poor judgment. One story reminded me of an interview with a prisoner serving a life sentence for killing and robbing a Detroit taxi driver. He was debasing murderers as if he wasnt one too. When I brought this to his attention, he denied being a murderer. I didnt kill that cab driver he proclaimed. He committed suicide. How do you figure that? I asked. His outrageous response: I was in the back seat and made it clear to him that if he turned around, I would shoot him. He turned around. He committed suicide. The prisoner had repeated this rationale enough that he had convinced himself that he was not responsible for the killing.
If you have worked with troubled people, you will be reminded of encounters you have experienced. If your work has taken you in other directions, you will appreciate the exposure.
Robert Brown, Jr., Corrections Consultant and former Director of the Michigan Department of Corrections
Preface and Acknowledgments
I have been enjoying the freedom of writing this book in my head for some time. I was writing it when I walked through prison housing areas during a quiet time, like when count was being taken. There, I often saw prisoners who seemed to be deep in thought, and I wondered whether landing in a cell and being suddenly thrown upon your thoughts was difficult for a prisoner who had been active in the community. Perhaps it was a gift like the advice given to brothers by the Desert Fathers of the fourth and fifth century who, when asked for a word, said, Go sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.
For some freedom may come from being confined in a cell or a 4x4 cubicle. For me a certain 4x4 cubicle was a problem, but solitary experiences of writing, thinking, or dreaming about my years working in prisons not so much. I never felt as though I locked myself up in order to put words on the page. I was never isolated. In fact, through my writing doors opened up for me and unlocked some of the ambivalence I had experienced working in prisons.
Yet writing this book entailed a giving up of sorts. Sometimes I gave up socializing to write. I didnt always allow myself to be distracted by a sunny day, or jogging and walking, a room in need of dusting, or a call from someone.
Writing this entailed another kind of giving up too, a giving up of myself. For once I began giving others my writing to read, they knew something about my heart.
Writing entailed conversation with others. It meant going out the door to a community to dialogue with others who read and write. Althea Gibson, the famous tennis player, reminds us that, No matter what accomplishments you achieve, somebody helps you.
