On the Parole Board

September 5, 2016
After serving for nearly 25 years on the Rhode Island Parole Board, social worker Reamer (Risk Management in Social Work) gives an insider look at his role in deciding the fate of prisoners. In a narrative-driven account that goes beyond his own work, he explores the complexity of criminal behavior, victim trauma, and the parameters of justice and punishment. He engages moral philosophy, social science research, history, and lived experience in order to come to grips with crime—from the gruesome to the mundane—and punishment. He also analyzes common catalysts for crime, including addiction, psychiatric illness, and prior histories of physical abuse and neglect. Delving into firsthand experiences, the book incorporates transcripts from parole hearings and personal testimonies from both prisoners and crime victims. Its in-depth look at criminal justice practices, including the benefits of restorative justice and the harms of solitary confinement, is especially instructive. Reamer combines a comprehensive overview of the criminal justice system with a generous and deeply personal account of crime’s human impact, and his work will appeal most strongly to social work practitioners. He ends the book by outlining tenets of just punishment that the U.S. prison system could implement and practice.

October 15, 2016

Reamer (social work, Rhode Island Coll. Sch. of Social Work) spent 24 years on the Rhode Island Parole Board, where, according to prison protocol, he sanctioned or denied the release of prisoners eligible for parole. He tells his story as a conscientious member of the board who considered the nature of the crime and extent of an individual's rehabilitation. To support his decisions, Reamer relates in a true crime-like style the accounts of inmates who crossed his path. Occasionally, he goes off track to discuss his personal notions of good, evil, redemption, and justice. Readers who are unfamiliar with the criminal justice system will find all of this information like the beam of a flashlight in a black hole: a light has finally been shed on a process shrouded in mystery. In the final chapter, the author offers his opinion of the complexities of criminal justice and the ways the system can be corrected. Few of his suggestions are original, but coming from a former member of a parole board, they pack an unmistakable punch. VERDICT For students and teachers in the field of criminal justice and general readers who are curious about the parole system.--Frances O. Sandiford, formerly with Green Haven Correctional Facility Lib., Stormville, NY

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