The article, "Escape Route," by Avi Steinberg is a librarian's take on a social institution. By social institution I'm referring to a structure given a particular purpose by society (Killgore, 2017). The author describes his experience staffing the Suffolk County House of Corrections library. He tells the reader about positive and negative effects of inmates spending time in the library, the debate on a library being accessible, and his personal experiences with the inmates. Steinberg finishes the article saying, "...and find ways to cultivate it more deliberately, to direct it over the prison walls and back into the lives of our neighborhoods." This quote shows just how often libraries are overlooked. In this essay I will be sharing examples
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Resocialization is the process of discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one's life (Schaefer, 2017, p. 86). Steinberg touches on resocialization quite a bit in this article, "The vast majority of prison inmates will eventually be released back into the free world, back into the community." He sees past that these men and women are in prison and he has hope for how they will act when they are released.
A concept that emphasizes the self as the product of our social interactions is called looking glass self (Schaefer, 2017, p. 82). The library acted as a place of retreat for most inmates, somewhere they could go and either be alone or connect with other inmates. Some would do research, or talk to others about family, religion, health and education. "You could, as inmates often told me, "feel like a normal person""(Steinberg, 2010). No matter what they chose to do, it gave them a sense of themselves without directly being related to being in …show more content…
83). Steinburg focused on one inmate, Fat Kat, saying, "he was a boss persona, a leader. In the prison library where I worked, he held sway." Although he was a "boss" in society and that’s what landed him in prison, he took that trait and made it positive. Kat helped teach other inmates reading and math, along with encouraging them to further pursue their education. The way he altered himself payed off, when Kat was released from prison he pursued a career in his community as a mentor and
Resocialization is the process of discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one's life (Schaefer, 2017, p. 86). Steinberg touches on resocialization quite a bit in this article, "The vast majority of prison inmates will eventually be released back into the free world, back into the community." He sees past that these men and women are in prison and he has hope for how they will act when they are released.
A concept that emphasizes the self as the product of our social interactions is called looking glass self (Schaefer, 2017, p. 82). The library acted as a place of retreat for most inmates, somewhere they could go and either be alone or connect with other inmates. Some would do research, or talk to others about family, religion, health and education. "You could, as inmates often told me, "feel like a normal person""(Steinberg, 2010). No matter what they chose to do, it gave them a sense of themselves without directly being related to being in …show more content…
83). Steinburg focused on one inmate, Fat Kat, saying, "he was a boss persona, a leader. In the prison library where I worked, he held sway." Although he was a "boss" in society and that’s what landed him in prison, he took that trait and made it positive. Kat helped teach other inmates reading and math, along with encouraging them to further pursue their education. The way he altered himself payed off, when Kat was released from prison he pursued a career in his community as a mentor and