Challenging the ideology of treatment in the prison world

"The Professional Convict s Tale: The Survival of John O Neill In and Out of Prison "offers a unique, inside view of life behind bars in the 1960s. Elmer H. Johnson, a criminologist who has specialized in prison life for half a century, gave Menard Penitentiary parolee John O Neill a tape recorder and a set of questions designed to draw out his opinions and observations about the prison world.

This study frames O Neill s responses with Johnson s analysis. O Neill s narrative guides readers through the world beyond the prison...