Newjack : Guarding Sing Sing

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Summary: The dark side of American justice...
Review: "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" is a fascinating look at the current state of our jail system & the people who's daily concern it is. Not only do we get to know the guards, but the prisoners emerge in a multi-textured, & very fair account.

Ted Conover, an anthropologist by training, gives a very well-balanced look into "the belly of the beast". He is brutally honest about both his preconceptions & his (sometimes not nice) reactions to what he encounters as a Corrections Officer for the State of New York. He admits that the grinding brutality of daily prison life dehumanizes even those who come in as idealists, & shows how violence & aggression are very understandable reactions to the stresses engendered by the nature of America's overcrowded prison system.

What emerges is an indictment of our current attitudes towards crime & punishment. It is interesting to note that almost every person in authority who daily deals with imprisoned criminals is against the death penalty. As one of the last "civilized" countries that still imposes death, America needs to ask herself some hard questions about it's effectiveness (or lack thereof). In addition, drug sentencing laws mandate that even if states build a new prison yearly, they would simply keep pace with current levels of overcrowding; is it worth the expenditure just to lock up someone for a marijuana plant? Any reader will find his heart pierced by the question posed by a prisoner named Lawson. In a conversation quoted by Conover, Lawson points out that the US is planning prisons to be built in 12 years. Conover says, "Isn't it good to plan ahead?". Lawson answers that by planning that far into the future, the government is planning on imprisoning an individual who is currently a child; instead of spending millions on future prisons, why not spend thousands on education & social services to ensure that child will not be just another statistic? Conover admits his entire outlook is changed by this conversation; I know I was deeply shaken.

If you have ever found yourself voting for the death penalty or a "3 strikes" law, please read "Newjack". You too may find your convictions shaken by the experience.

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Summary: brought back memories of my rookie year
Review: Ted Connver in "New Jack" presents us with a unique view of prison life, that of the Correction officer's. We too often hear of prision life only from the inmate side (Such as in "Monster"). Ted connevers accout of his year in Sing Sing is well written and funny on many levels, his wry sense of humor will make you laugh out loud even if you have never set foot in a jail or prision, but even more so if you have. So much of this book made me laugh because it very accurately potrays what any officer in New York will experience in thier first year on the Job wheter it is in Sing Sing or Rikers Island (I'm sure I have worked with many of the same inmates as Conover did) Conover clearly and accuratley discribes the many "mind games" inmates play on "New Jacks" and how officers begin to learn how to deal with them. Aside from a few minor differences in polotics I throughly enjoyed this book. one last not for those interested in the term "New Jack" officers at one time, a long time ago, used to carry a "Jack" wich was a soid piece of lead covered by Shinny leather when new which was used for self defence (and on occasion retribution) when an imate saw a shiny new Jack they would say "Here comes the new officer with the new Jack" eventual the term stuck even after Jacks were classified a deadly weapon and made illeagal. (the book doesn't explain this term)

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Summary: New Jack, Guarding Sing Sing
Review: This book gives you a real insite as to not only what the inmates go thru but also what the officers and their families contend with on a daily bases. I think it is a great way to get an idea of what really happens behind bars.

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Summary: Courageous -- an insightful, needed perspective
Review: Conover's effort is truly daunting; that he was willing to subject himself for a grueling year to the physical and emotional hazards of working as a prison guard is beyond impressive. The result is an informed study of the penal system, which offers insights on subculture of corrections officers and the facilities where they work.

After the spate of works sympathetic to the plight of the incarcerated, such as those about Mumia Al-Jamal, and Hurricane Carter, this work fills a needed void. As this book attests, not all guards are brutal and not all prisoners blameless victims. This work reminds us that many, if not most, of those incarcerated did something wrong, and that prisons exist to protect society. However, it also notes that prisons do not "correct" but exist to separate "deviant" individuals from society.

Conover does not attempt to gloss over the behavior of "corrections officers"; he convincingly conveys how prison guards need for daily survival in a menacing environment results in occasional brutality, and the intentional ignoring or violation of many rules.

By education Conover is an anthropologist and as a result this work is a holistic study of the history, and "evolution" of American correctional facilities, as well as an evocative depiction of their current state. While a "scholarly" work, it is gritty, readable, and engaging. Additionally, he refrains overstating his points with superfluous "sensational" anecdotes.

Conover describes a sad, but necessary element of society; one that is unsuccessful in many respects, and which warrants reconsideration and overhaul. This is a well written, and serious work.

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Summary: A Very Accurate Account
Review: As someone who spent 4 years working in Sing Sing, I believe I knew Mr. Conover while he was at Sing Sing and while I was not an Officer, I think I remember our paths crossing several times. I observed many of the same situations, emotions and observations as the author. In addition to his dead on portrayal of life behind bars, it was good to read about how the environment can have negative emotional effects on those who work there. It's about time someone told the truth about what goes on inside Sing Sing and how it can demoralize those who are simply good people trying to do job and earn a paycheck. The NYS Department of Corrections as a whole is in need of total reformation and Sing Sing is a prime example of why. I was skeptical when I picked up the book, as every account of prison life which I had previously read or seen seemed inaccuarate to me or slanted by inmate or administrative/political bias. After the first couple of chapters it was clear to me that this was a book written by someone with no agenda other then to tell the truth about life behind the walls at Sing Sing.

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Summary: Hits the nail on the head
Review: This book is awesome. I worked in the corrections field for three years, and reading the author's experiences at the training academy and then as he started work at Sing Sing brought back a lot of memories. Sing Sing sounds like a real hell on earth from the author's descriptions, and that applies to most prisons, places where hope doesn't exist. Very well written and very accurate portrayal of what correctional officers go through on a daily basis. Very highly recommended to anyone wondering what it's like to work in, or to be incarcerated in, a prison.

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Summary: Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing
Review: As a Corrections Officer in a maximum security prison, I am often asked about the job I do, and always found it difficult to put it into words. Fortunately, Ted Conover did just that in this book. When friends or family ask about my work, I buy them a copy of Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, and then offer to discuss it with them after they have finished. I find the book parallels closely the way I felt in my rookie year, and it gives those around me a better insight into my career.

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Summary: Good topic, great book
Review: Ted Conover's interest in the NY State Correction Officer's training program led him to spend a year working as a CO at Sing Sing Prison. Unencumbered by polemical fervor, the resulting book is honest, graceful, and infused with respect toward nearly everyone on both sides of the bars. The inmates are depicted with sympathy while not ignoring their initial crimes and menacing behavior in prison; the officers are presented as individuals performing a dangerous job without discounting their questionable acts. The prison administration is the only side cast in a uniformly negative light, with its shortcomings detailed without a discussion of its limited resources and bureaucratic constraints. When the author eventually states his own suggestions for reform they come without moralistic rhetoric of any sort, appealing to intellect instead of inflaming emotions.

The informative, straightforward narrative is improved with engrossing historical background on the origins and evolution of Sing Sing, often drawn from nineteenth-century sources. There is also a very interesting epilogue about the response to the first edition.

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Summary: Hard Life
Review: Ted Conover's Newjack is one of the best book I ever read. It shows how prison is from the CO's eyes. Newjack opened my eyes; how tough it is to be a CO. Not only the prisoners have a hard time in prison, the COs have a hard time. They are forced to make some difficult choices, and if they choice the wrong one they might cause a riot.

Conover shines light in a dark place for me to see how prison really is. This book is ten times better than any prison movie. The movies will always show the story from the prisoners side, but Conover tells stories about CO's getting beat up, and getting held as a prisoner themselves, but the prisons.

I sincerly think that this book should be read by anybody who really wants to know about life in prison.

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Summary: Newjack lacks a point
Review: Several friends and I read Newjack in our bookclub. Ted Conover started the book well. He has an interesting idea of getting an inside look at the New York prison system. Mr. Conover goes in to this assignment giving the impression that he feels the system is broken and corrupt. As the story continues, it provides an interesting case study on how Conover's feelings about inmates and the prison system changes.

However, I was greatly dissapointed to come to the end of the work, only to find that Mr. Conover never looked at himself and how the job changed his attitudes and beliefs.

After starting out strong, the book is reduced from an expose' to mearly a collection of "war stories". Mr. Conover fails to try and give reasons to why things happen or how the prison system could be improved. Most importently, Mr. Conover never looks at the changes that occurred in him. A chapter or two at the end of the book, analysing his own change would have given the book meaning and significants. As it was, the book falls flat on it's face.

If you are interested in a story of the underbelly of our society as represented in the prison system, this is a good book for you. However, if you were looking for undercover journalism that exposes the many problems in the prison system and then attempts to bring meaning or change, you will be greatly dissapointed. Mr. Conover's book ends up being nothing but a ... compilation of gross stories with no meaning.