Behind the Walls

“The good [correctional officers] are sociable. They can joke around with you, talk to you as a human. But then there are other staff that think that you’re just ... an animal ... and they would prefer if you were just locked up and had nothing. I dread certain shifts coming on. I just, I despise them ... because it seems that they try their hardest to make hell for us in here.” – Sentenced inmate and ex-gang member

Despite falling crime rates, more rights for inmates, and better training for correctional officers, Canada’s prison population is on the rise, and outbreaks of prison violence continue to grab headlines. Applying Goffman’s frame theory and drawing on interviews with inmates and correctional officers in federal and provincial institutions, Michael Weinrath assesses whether improvements over the past twenty-five years have truly led to “better corrections.”

Behind the Walls offers an unprecedented look at life in contemporary prisons. Inmates and staff describe their transition to prison life and corrections work, and they explain how they frame or understand their role and how they relate to other inmates or correctional officers. They also provide commentaries on how a range of issues, developments, and institutional changes have affected their daily lives, including female correctional officers in male prisons, boundary violations by correctional officers, the introduction of behavioural programs, and the rise of prison gangs.

Weinrath’s balanced assessment reveals that although Canadian prisons have seen improvements over the last few decades, they continue to be plagued by problems that prevent inmates from forging positive relationships among themselves and with correctional officers.