BOOK REVIEW

Life on the outside: The prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett

Life on the outside: The prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett

In the late 1990s? researchers and policymakers started to draw attention to a very noticeable? burgeoning problem resulting from decades of mass incarceration policies - over half a million people were returning home from correctional institutions each year and the vast majority were not prepared for life on the outside (e.g.? Petersilia? 1999? 2000; Travis? 2000). Since then? there has been ensuing effort to identify and address the multitude of issues confronting ex-prisoners as they reenter society (e.g.? Maruna? 2001; Petersilia? 2003; Travis? Solomon? & Waul? 2001).

In Life on the Outside? Jennifer Gonnerman offers readers a firsthand account into the life of Elaine Bartlett? a convicted drug offender who was sentenced to twenty years in New York's Bedford Hills prison. It was her first conviction? but under New York's Rockefeller drug laws the offense of transporting four ounces of cocaine carried a mandatory minimum sentence of twenty years. This case study traces Bartlett's life from her troubled childhood through her conviction and reentry experience. In doing so? Gonnerman puts a human face on the term "prisoner reentry" and expands on the scope of the problem? not in terms of aggregate percentages but by focusing on one individual's experience.

The book is divided into four sections. The first part describes the events leading up to Bartlett's arrest as well as the consequent legal proceedings. The second focuses on her experiences in prison? and the third and fourth sections cover the period after her release from prison on January 26? 2000. While Bartlett's experiences constitute the core of this case study? Gonnerman also extends her analysis to include Bartlett's family. By doing so? Gonnerman demonstrates how the problem of prisoner reentry is much larger than the individual; reentry has serious consequences for the entire family.

Yet she is atypical in that Bartlett is a woman? who earned a significant education in prison and was granted clemency. In addition? she spent an inordinate amount of time in prison? compared with the average offender.

These similarities and differences do not limit Bartlett's story in terms of its relevance? however. Gonnerman does a terrific job capturing Bartlett's personal successes and plights? all the while alerting readers to the larger issues at hand.

Gonnerman's account of Bartlett's prison experience sensitizes us to some core issues faced by people serving time in prison-strained family relationships? loss of control over one's life? and loneliness. She reminds us that the prison environment does not nurture positive personal growth or changes? partly because inmates must regularly deal with the negative emotions of other prisoners and the conflict these create. Gonnerman particularly focuses on the difficulty of being a parent in prison? which is limited almost solely to phone calls and brief visits at the prison.

"For Elaine? it was difficult to maneuver between these two worlds: the visiting room and the rest of prison. In the cell blocks and corridors? she had to watch her back constantly? ...