Ebook: Decades behind bars: a 20-year conversation with men in America's prisons

Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Introduction -- "I'm weary all the time" : an introduction to the men -- "Gnaws at your heart like a worm" : the emotional impact of incarceration -- In the belly of the beast : entering prison -- On the yard : day-to-day life in prison -- In the lion's mouth : crime and rule-breaking within the walls -- Power, respect and the convict code : surviving behind bars -- The past that clings to them : scars of child abuse and neglect -- Desperate connections : family ties -- Two sides of a coin : the man and his crime -- Searching for blue skies : religion behind bars -- The long wait : the parole process -- End of the journey : illness and death in prison -- The patterns of change : results of the study and suggestions for improvement -- The conversation begins : current status of inmate subjects -- Glossary of prison terminology -- Chapter notes -- Bibliography -- Index.;"Beginning in 1994, the author began recording stories of 50 incarcerated felons--17 of them were still in prison 20 years later. The men discuss what it means to commit a serious crime and be confined. The author identifies circumstances that ruin some prisoners and save others and presents insights for possible improvements in the criminal justice system"--