Introduction
The book review provided by Golembeski focuses on the Venters’ Life and Death in Rikers Island. The review’s objective was to critically assess the issues provided within the book and rationalize its value within academic circles. According to Golembeski (2020), the book offers a unique perspective on the inside of the Rikers prison and discusses its potential as student material for education. She concludes that it is valuable “for researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and anyone with interest in social equity, justice, and health or corrections administration” (Golembeski, 2020, p. 6). Consequently, her objective was to distinguish the most important themes and highlight essential arguments provided by Venters.
Methods
The methods used for the book review can be speculated based on the focus and structure of the article. It is evident that the author did extensive reading of the material and elicited core ideas and what she thought were the essential arguments in the book. Thus, the analysis can be described as systemic reading and evaluation of ideas.
Golembeski explores the techniques that Venters used to write the book. These techniques combine the analytical study of trials and the study of actual cases of violence and humiliation. An electronic medical record was used as a technique for documenting these cases. In addition, they examined the work of city councils, health systems, and courts and assessed their role in the existence of disciplinary practices in prisons.
Various techniques have allowed Venters and his team to collect considerable analytical data and practical observations. The data included testimonies from prisoners, medical personnel in the correctional system, a review of court decisions, and academic research. Qualitative and quantitative data were interpreted and presented as 40 peer-reviewed publications. While researching Venters’ book, Golembeski finds confirmation of the described facts in other academic sources. The result was a review that conceptualized the goals of correctional health care.
Results
The researchers were able to collect a large base of objective evidence. Venters found that jail-attributable deaths typically account for 10 to 20% of all annual deaths, although in some years, they account for 50% or more of all deaths. Golembeski presented a model as a result, which analyzed the Venters’ study from several angles. The first is bureaucratic influence, the second is the role of public health, the third is the practice of physical and sexual abuse in prisons, and the fourth is human rights (Sue, 2022). The results on bureaucratic influence were obtained using the analytical research technique. The electronic medical record was used for quantitative results on cases of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.
Venters concludes that the system punishes rather than reforms prisoners and proposes closing prisons on Rikers Island in favor of a transition to treatment and parole programs. Golembeski verifies these findings against the national average. According to statistics cited by Wolff and Greifinger (2020), about 56% of the inmate population is black, 33% is Hispanic, and 7.5% is white. The recidivism rate at Rikers Island Jail is 43% (Golembeski, 2020). This indicator is close to the national average and does not stand out compared to other prisons. Nevertheless, it is projected that 77% of those who are released from this prison will be rearrested within five years (Golembeski, 2020). The t-test was used to denote differences and test hypotheses between means. In addition, the developments related to the conceptualization of Venters’ research allowed it to give socio-historical value research.
Discussion
The results of Life and Death in Rikers Island were presented as specific recommendations. Golembeski (2020) formulated them as increasing transparency and introducing standardized dual loyalty training and support for medical staff reporting abuse and neglect. Another example is developing an innovative healthcare model that will enable the creation of a non-profit service.
The authors were able to confirm the thesis originally put forward that correctional health care emphasizes punishment rather than treatment and also creates and maintains a system of inequality. This work not only provides new information about deaths in prisons but also shows health professionals who play roles in prisons that are not their usual roles of care, punishment, and social suffering.
The significance of this study lies in its wide application. It can be used by all stakeholders involved in correctional facilities and courts. In addition, it raises the ethical issues of health care in conditions of mass incarceration. Golembeski links the results to the literature in this area. She cites Sufrin, who writes about politics that condones the cover-up of prison deaths (Golembeski, 2020). She also concludes that policy changes positively affect the level of care in prisons. Thus, Venter’s study confirms the observations made by other researchers.
Conclusion
Life and Death in Rikers Island gives a clear picture of the methods and techniques that the study authors used to test their hypotheses. In particular, it has been argued that the politics and administration of prisons create the conditions for violence, oppression, and humiliation to flourish. The book provided review by Golembeski confirms that the authors, having collected quantitative and qualitative data, confirmed their ideas. In addition, in her review, she gives conceptual value to the study, pushing it beyond correctional systems and health care to the level of human rights protection and lawmaking.
References
Golembeski, C. A. (2020). Life and death in Rikers Island. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019. Web.
Sue, K. L. (2022). Violence at Rikers Island: Does the doctor make it worse? A clinician ethnographer’s work amidst carceral structural violence. Culture, medicine, and psychiatry, 1-20. Web.
Wolff, H., & Greifinger, R. (2020). Incarceration harms health: Homer Venters’s Book on Rikers Island Jails. Am J Public Health, 110(Suppl 1), S9–S10.