John Irwin - Lifers: Seeking Redemption in Prison

Irwin writes about prisons from an unusual academic perspective. Before receiving a PhD in sociology, he served five years in a California state penitentiary for armed robbery. This is his sixth book on imprisonmentan ethnography of prisoners who have served more than 20 years in a California correctional institution. The purpose of the book is to take issue with the conventional wisdom on homicide, societys purposes of imprisonment, and offenders reformability. Through the lifers stories, Irwin reveals what happens to prisoners serving very long sentences in correctional facilities and what this should tell us about effective sentencing policy.

John Irwin taught sociology at San Francisco State University for 27 years, during which time he studied prisons and jails. His research was published in five books. He was also a member of the Working Party for the American Friends Service Committee that wrote the influential report The Struggle for Justice. He worked closely with the California legislature on the Uniform Sentencing Act passed in 1976.

Series Editors: Chester Britt, Northeastern University, Shaun L. Gabbidon, Penn State Harrisburg, and Nancy Rodriguez, Arizona State University

Criminology and Justice Studies offers works that make both intellectual and stylistic innovations in the study of crime and criminal justice. The goal of the series is to publish works that model the best scholarship and thinking in the criminology and criminal justice field today, but in a style that connects that scholarship to a wider audience including advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and the general public. The works in this series help fill the gap between academic monographs and encyclopedic textbooks by making innovative scholarship accessible to a large audience without the superficiality of many texts.

Seeking Redemption in Prison

First published 2009
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

2009 Taylor & Francis

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Irwin, John, 1929
Lifers : seeking redemption in prison / John Irwin.
p. cm.(Criminology and justice studies series)
1. PrisonersUnited StatesAttitudes. 2. PrisonersUnited StatesConduct of
life. 3. CriminalsRehabilitationUnited States. 4. PrisonsUnited States. I. Title.
HV9471.I776 2008
365.4dc22
2009008560

Criminology and Justice Studies offers works that make both intellectual and stylistic innovations in the study of crime and criminal justice. The goal of the series is to publish works that model the best scholarship and thinking in the field today, but in a style that connects that scholarship to a wider audience including advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and the general public. The works in the series help fill the gap between academic monographs and encyclopedic textbooks by making innovative scholarship accessible to a large audience without the superficiality of many texts.

By a stroke of luck, Professor John Irwin selected our series for his latest treatise on American corrections, Lifers. In this important work, he provides readers with detailed insights into the lives of 17 lifers in Californias notorious San Quentin prison. The backgrounds and experiences of the lifers show both the diversity and similarities of their lived experiences. As usual, Irwins deep understanding of American corrections provides the context for a better understanding of the changing nature of sentencing that has produced record numbers of lifers. In addition, his work shows the humanity of the inmates, which is in stark contrast to the often demonic portrait of lifers. Lifers also points to the imperfection of the criminal justice system by highlighting the fact that one of the lifers was released because he was wrongly convicted. An additional theme of Irwins text is a review of the enormous challenges facing lifers once they reenter society. In short, this book represents another key work by Professor Irwin. We can only hope students of the discipline will continue to take heed of Dr. Irwins keen insights on this critical issue facing American society.

Chester Britt
Shaun L. Gabbidon
Nancy Rodriguez

Twenty-five years of a tough on crime policy have resulted in an explosion of our prison populations, which have gone from 196,000 in 1970 to over 1.5 million today. Within this general expansion, the proportion of persons serving terms with a life maximum (usually for first or second degree homicide) has increased. Short termers come and go, lifers accumulate. At present in California, which is the focus of this study, lifers are 15 percent of the population. What has happened is that in addition to more lifers being sent to prison, they serve much longer sentences.