Narratives from the 1971 Attica Prison Riot: Toward a New Theory of Correctional Disturbances (Criminology Studies, Band 2) . [Neubuch].

Featherstone, Richard Andrew und Stephen H. Paschen:

ISBN 10: 0773459804 / ISBN 13: 9780773459809

Published by Edwin Mellen Press Ltd, 2005

About this Item

200 S. Das Buch ist neu, aus priv. Vorbesitz, ungelesen. Original eingeschweisst. -----Inhalt:. Examines six major published narratives on the event. The author analyzes the discursive aspect of each narrative and excavates four common themes providing the basis of each narrative. He then illustrates how each narrator used these themes to craft unique stories of the event, each shaped by their occupational and social positions.In this work, six major published narratives on the event are examined, each written by a major participant. The author analyzes the discursive aspect of each narrative and excavates four common themes providing the basis of each narrative. He then illustrates how each narrator used these themes to craft unique stories of the event, each shaped by their occupational and social positions. In 1972, the famous French philosopher Michel Foucault visited the prison in Attica, New York, as part of his research on the history of punishment. A year prior, Foucault had formed a research group on the prison system, "Groupe d'information sur les prisons," which led to various critical studies and reform proposals of the French prison system. In 1973, Foucault edited a book containing the memoirs of a murderer, and, two years later, he published his famous study on the history of the prison, Discipline and Punish, a work that has been extremely influential for the study of the prison and other forms of social control until this day. What struck Foucault the most when he visited Attica was the entrance of the prison building. The entrance appeared to Foucault, as it might to us, to resemble that of a make-believe medieval fortress, the kind one could find in Disneyland. Behind this spectacular entrance was a grand sophisticated machine that was based on principles of efficiency and calculation to know and see each and all. Whereas the exterior architecture of Attica was kitsch, its inside presented a cold, hygienic, and well-organized machine of exclusion and supervision. In the fall of 1971, however, the Attica prison machine had broken down, and its Disneyesque facade would be forever marred. From September 9 to 12, 1971, inmates of the Attica Correctional Facility took control of the prison. Holding some forty guards hostage, the prisoners presented the authorities with a list of demands that sought better living conditions as well as improved educational and vocational opportunities. After four tense days of negotiations, the uprising ended when several hundred agents of the state stormed the facility and placed it back in the hands of the authorities. Thirty-nine men died in the recapture of the prison. Richard Featherstone's study on the Attica prison uprising provides a fascinating examination of what happened during those fateful days in 1971. Based on innovative insights from the sociology of narrative analysis, Featherstone examines five different first-hand accounts of the prison riot, each of which provides a unique insider's view of the pattern and dynamics of the uprising. From these various stories Featherstone identifies four central themes: the use of military metaphors involving war and battle between opposing groups; racial friction between whites and blacks; an underdog theme revolving around the estimated strength and weakness of others and selves; and, finally, a theme of the attribution of responsibility to other people and circumstances. Though the four identified themes are present in all the narratives that are analyzed, Featherstone thoughtfully extends the identification of themes to incorporate a sociological inquiry of the characteristics of the social structure in which the various authors of the narratives are located. As Featherstone aptly argues, the diverse positions of the authors determine the manner in which the themes are articulated in their respective stories. In the very best tradition of a structurally oriented sociological analysis, Featherstone attributes the meaning and a.

Seller Inventory # 676406

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Narratives from the 1971 Attica Prison Riot: Toward a New Theory of Correctional Disturbances (Criminology Studies, Band 2) . [Neubuch].
• Publisher: Edwin Mellen Press Ltd
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0773459804
• ISBN 13: 9780773459809
• Binding: Gebundene Ausgabe, Gr.8°
• Condition: Neu
• Weight: 499 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Geschichte

About this title

Synopsis

Six major published narratives on the event are examined, each written by a major participant. The author analyzes the discursive aspect of each narrative and excavates four common themes providing the basis of each narrative. He then illustrates how each narrator used these themes to craft unique stories of the event, each shaped by their occupational and social positions.

Review

"Attica! Attica! Attica!" - Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino), Dog Day Afternoon, 1975. What a waste of human power What a waste of human lives - John Lennon, "Attica State," 1972."