Prisons

1934 · ref. 80648 — New York: National Library Press 1934. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo. 24cm. Publisher's red cloth titled in gilt to spine. Dustjacket. 256pp. Minor bumping to the spine ends a little superficial wear to extremities strong and handsome with a few areas of discolouration to the bright red cloth in a clean solid dustjacket lightly sunned and spotted to the spine and with some soiling of the white areas and shallow marginal wear. A very good copy. Internally clean although there is some acid reaction or offsetting to the pastedowns and flyleaves toning to page edges. Six illustrative photographs. A rather fascinating early work on conditions for prisoners in US carcerial institutions Fishman pioneered what was referred to as "Deprivation Theory" citing lack of access to heterosexual relationships as a major cause of unrest and friction amongst inmates he was an early suggestor of conjugal visits and a reduction in overcrowding: "Why is there such a wall of silence encircling the subject of Sex in Prison We are living in a frank and realistic age yet the subject of sex in prison - so provocative so vital so timely in view of the recent epidemic of prison riots - is shrouded in dread silence." Fishman's researches despite encompassing a number of theories that we know today definitively contribute to unrest and violence amongst prison populations weren't favourably received until the 1960's when a new generation of reformers took sections of his research and advanced them into a more modern understanding of what happens to incarcerated peoples and why the concept of "punishment" is essentially useless without a conceptual pathway towards rehabilitation and a time "after punishment." An important book. National Library Press unknown