Musings from the Field: the criminology of advocacy in prisons and court rooms

• In Event: Activism & Criminal Justice

Abstract

Unlike many university types, my entry into formal criminology was atypical. Prior to finishing a doctorate in sociology and criminology in 2006, I was a sentencing, parole and prisoners’ advocate for decades, beginning in the late 70’s. This meant entering prisons and court rooms in North America, evaluating the Mad, Bad, and the Different (Barak-Glantz & Huff, 1981); and preparing reports outlining alternatives to jail for the dangerous classes. This also led to prison law litigation, which is unusual for most criminologists, as well as the actual filing of lawsuits under the Access to Information Act against the prison-industrial complex.

This short paper summarizes some of my experiences, and their impact on formal criminology as well as applied criminology. Importantly, praxis in our prisons and court rooms has clearly affected my theoretical orientation, which remains steadfastly anchored in critical criminology. Indeed, this particular “role” as a prisoners’ advocate seems to go hand-in-hand with critical theory.

Authors

• Matthew G. Yeager, Criminologist

• Randall Shelden, University of Nevada, Las Vegas