Book reviews
| Date | 01 June 1956 |
| Published date | 01 June 1956 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455055600800207 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
31
Book
reviews
Birdrnan
of
Alcatraz
Thomas
E.
Gaddis.
Gollancz,
16s.
The more we read
of
American
prisons
the
more
baflled
we
become.
There
just
is
no
&dquo;American
prison
system&dquo;
-
there
are
local
prisons,
state
prisons
and
the
Federal
Prisons,
but
each
is
different.
Even
within
the
purview
of
the
Federal
Bureau
of
Prisons
the
range
is
from
the
most
advanced
open
prisons
such
as
Seagoville
to
the
island
fortress
prison
of
Alcatraz
and
within
the
prisons
the
range
is
from
trusties
helping
to
run
the
place,
to
long
term
prisoners
serving
years
of
solitary
confinement.
Robert
Stroud
is
one
of
the
latter;
yet
such
a
bare
state-
ment
does
not
end
the
paradoxes,
for
he
had
done
wonder-
ful
things
in
his
solitary
life.
As
a
youth,
in
1909,
he
murdered,
and
was
sent
to
prison
for
a
long
sentence.
As
a
prisoner,
seven
years
later,
he
murdered
again
to
end
the
life
of
a
ruthless
and
oppressive
prison
officer.
For
this
he
was
sentenced
to
death,
but
he
fought
for
four
years
through
various
appeal
courts
to
get
a
reprieve,
with
a
gallant
mother
fighting
for
him
outside
the
prison
and
taking
her
petition
at
last
to
the
President
in
person.
The
reprieve
came
after
Stroud
had
watched
from
his
cell
window
the
erection
of
the
gallows,
for
he
was
in
the
State
of
Kansas
which
had
no
gallows
available.
His
escape
from
death
was
followed
by
an
obvious
official
determination
that
he
should
stay
in
&dquo;solitary&dquo;
and
never
be
paroled,
a
terrible
policy
which
is
still
being
pursued
after
forty
years.
His
lonely
cell
in
Leavenworth
Penitentiary
had
a
lonely
yard
into
which
a
fledgling
sparrow
fell;
he
nursed
it,
found
it
a
mate,
and
developed
an
interest
in
birds.
Despite
his
solitary
confinement
he
had
amazing
contact
with
the
outside
world
and
through
letters
and
magazines
he
built
up
a
vast
knowledge
of
the
bird
world.
One
of
his
earliest
contacts
led
to
the
gift
of
two
canaries
from
which
in
his
cell
he
bred
families
and
studied
the
illnesses
and
habits
of
canaries.
His
cell
at
one
time
had
over
100
birds
in
it,
and
by
scrounging
and
appeals
he
managed
to
get
materials
to
make
cages
for
them
all.
He
wrote
articles
for
bird
fanciers’
magazines
to
earn
money
to
pay
for
food
for
his
birds;
he
began
an
information
bureau
for
readers
of the
magazine,
and
he
eventually
wrote
a
standard
work
on
bird
diseases.
His
liberty
within
solitary
confinement
was
extensive
and
saved
him
from
utter
destruction
-
he
even
married
a
woman
bird
lover
by
post
as
a
result
of
a
discovery
he
made
about
a
chink
in
the
local
legislation.
But
authority
saw
to
it
that
his
liberty
should
never
get
beyond
the
walls
of
his
cell
and
yard.
A
decision
to
send
him
to
Alcatraz,
as
a
dangerous
prisoner,
was
defeated
by
public
protests
organised
through
the
bird-magazines,
but
the
victory
was
only
temporary.
Four
years
later,
suddenly,
and
without
warning,
he
was
packed
off
from
Leavenworth
under
armed
escort,
he
saw
fields
and
hills
for
the
first
time
for
over
thirty
years,
and
crossed
to
Alcatraz.
But
his
birds
and
books
were
left
behind.
In
Alcatraz,
solitary
confinement
knows
of
no
refinement
or
alleviation,
but
it
has
still
not
broken
the
spirit
of
this
sick
and
lonely
man
of
sixty-five.
Denied
access
to
his
birds,
forbidden
even
to
answer
his
publisher’s
request
that
he
should
be
allowed
to
revise
his
book
on
bird
diseases,
he
turned
to
the
study
of
constitutional
law,
of
penal
history
and
of
French;
and
devoted
much
energy
to
the
careful
preparation
of
an
appeal
for
parole.
It
was
not
even
considered.
He
will
apparently
never
get
out,
so
ruth-
lessly
does
America
intend
to
punish
him
for
his
menacing
conduct
of
many
years
ago,
and
not
even
his
calmness
and
courage
in
checking
the
Alcatraz
prison
riot
will
be
put
onto
his
side
of
the
scale.
It
is
a
sad
and
moving
story,
a
galling
and
frustrating
one,
and
one
not
easily
to
be
forgotten
when
our
American
friends
speak
of
their
advanced
methods
in
the
treatment
of
crime.
They
are
so
advanced
that
the
head
seems
to
have
left
the
tail
behind
and
forgotten
it.
Perhaps
those
grand
men
of
the
prison
administration
could
stop
advancing
for
a
minute
or
two,
to
take
a
backward
glance
over
their
shoulders.
Frank
Dawtry.
British
Journal
of
Psychiatric
Social
Work
Vol.
3
No. 2
1955
This almost
all-American
issue
nearly
knocks
out
the
word ’
British ’
from
the
title
of
this
journal.
Three
of
the
four
major
articles
have
roots
in
the
U.S.A.,
and
five
of
the
eleven
book
reviews
stem
from
transatlantic
presses.
It
is
another
example
of
how
much
of
our
thought
on
social
casework
has
its
source
in
the
social
work
schools
of the
States.
However
restoration
of
national
pride
is
promised
by
the editor
in
the
Spring
1956
issue!
In
spite
of
this,
many
probation
officers
will
find
these
articles
and
reviews
both
relevant
and
rewarding.
Professor
Charlotte
Towle’s
retrospective
contribution
&dquo; New
Developments
in
Social
Casework
in
the
United
States&dquo;
surveys
the
scene
with
acumen,
insight
and
wide
experience;
she
sees
these
developments
as
heightening:
&dquo;to
many
of
us
they
signify
change
in
a
growth
direction
in
that
casework
as
a
basic
generic
process
is
contributing
to
the
profession
as
a
whole&dquo;.
If
you
get
tluough
the
weft
of
her
terminology
you
will
soon
realise
that
what
she
is
saying
is
important!
Miss
Eugenia
Hunneus’
reminscent
contribution
&dquo;
On
working
with
and
without
Supervision &dquo;
will
provoke
our
own
expectant
explorations
in
casework
supervision.
She
wonders
how
far
self-supervision
can
be
effective
without
a
basis
in
experience
of
supervision
over
a
number
of
years,
and
recommends
a
gradual
development
of
a
regular
sys-
tem
of
in-service
supervision.
She
seems
to
echo
the
call
that
advisory
supervision
is
first
and
last
a
relationship
of
persons
calling
for
deep
qualities
of
heart,
mind
and
spirit,
which
necessitates
an
acceptance
of
whatever
discipline
and
plain
hard
work
needed
to
develop
requisite
abilities
and
skills.
The
high
standard
of
the
other
articles
and
reviews
is
in
keeping
with
the
consistent
performance
of
this
journal;
a
credit
to
both
cqntributor
and
editor.
British
Journal
of
Psychiatric
Social
Work
Vol.
3
No. 3
Spring
1956
There
is
an
increasing
demand
for
more
British
material
on
the
sociology
of
case
work
and
an
urge
to
view
indivi-
dual
activity
not
only
from
internal
motivation
but
also
against
the
foreground
of
the
family
and
the
background
of
the
community
or
society.
It
is
encouraging
to
see
that
psychiatric
social
workers
are
breaking
traditional
ground
in
their
sphere,
and
in
consequence
their
opinion
and
com-
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