Academic literature on the topic 'South Vietnamese Prisoners and prisons'

This article re-examines Vietnamese diasporic anticommunism in the context of twentieth-century Vietnamese history. It offers an overview of the Vietnamese anticommunist tradition from colonialism to the end of the Vietnam War, and interprets the effects of national loss and incarceration on South Vietnamese anticommunists. These experiences contributed to an essentialization of anticommunism among the prisoners, who eventually provided a critical mass for anticommunist activism in the United States since the early 1990s.

Lady Borton is a United States citizen of Quaker background, and a former high school teacher. Inspired by her pacifist conviction that all lives are sacred and that violence is not an appropriate choice to resolve human conflict, she volunteered to work in Vietnam for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The AFSC is a Quaker-based organization dedicated to the elimination of social injustice and to the promotion of world peace. From 1969 to 1971 Borton served as adminstrator of the AFSC project in Quang Ngai, a Vietnamese province that saw some of the heaviest civilian and military casualities of the war. The AFSC's project taught the Vietnamese how to make artificial arms and legs for civilian victims and provided regular weekly medical care to South Vietnamese political prisoners. In 1975 she served as leader of an AFSC-sponsored delegation of teachers to North Vietnam. She returned to Southeast Asia in 1980 to work as health administrator for twelve thousand Vietnam boat people who had been placed on the Malaysian island of Pulau Bidong. She visited Kampuchea in 1983 and is planning a visit to Vietnam later this year. Borton lives on a farm in the Appalachian region of Ohio. She chooses to live below the taxable income level so that the government cannot use her tax dollars to support any military activity. In this short article, she describes the many voices that she experiences in a typical day in Ohio and ponders a personal consequence of her remarkable sense of empathy.

"We will fight from one generation to the next." In the 1960s and 1970s we anti-imperialists in the U.S. were inspired not only by that slogan from Vietnam but even more by how they lived it with their 2000-year history of defeating a series of mighty invaders. At the same time we felt that we just might be on the cusp of world revolution in our lifetimes. Vietnam's ability to stand up to and eventually defeat the most lethal military machine in world history was the spearhead. Dozens of revolutionary national liberation struggles were sweeping what was then called the "Third World," today referred to as the "global South." There was a strategy to win, as articulated by Che Guevara: to overextend and defeat the powerful imperial beast by creating "two, three, many Vietnams." A range of radical and even revolutionary movements erupted within the U.S. and also in Europe and Japan.… Tragically, the revolutionary potential that felt so palpable then has not been realized.… Today, fighting from one generation to the next takes on new relevance and intense urgency.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

This article explores the case of N’Guyen Van Binh, a South Vietnamese political prisoner exiled for his alleged role in “Poukhombo’s Rebellion” in Cambodia in 1866. Although Van Binh’s original sentence of exile was reduced to one year in prison he was nonetheless deported and disappeared into the maw of the colonial systems of indentured servitude and forced labor; he likely did not survive the experience. He was thus the victim of injustice and his case reveals the at best haphazard workings of the French colonial bureaucracy during the period of transition from the Second Empire to the Third Republic. While the documentary record is entirely from the perspective of the colonizers, reading between the lines we can also learn something about Van Binh himself including his fierce will to resist his colonial oppressors.

This article discusses the lives of women in prison in the new South Africa. It describes observations during site visits by the author to prisons in the Durban and Cape Town areas in the summer of 1995 and the spring of 1997. The article covers topics ranging from educational and employment opportunities to child care and maintenance of family ties, concluding that the ambitions of the country's new Constitution remain a far cry from the social and economic realities for the vast majority of its imprisoned women.

Prisoners represent a group containing the highest problem gambling (PG) rate found in any population. PG is of particular concern among Indigenous Australians. Little data exist concerning PG rates among Indigenous Australian prisoners. The present study aimed to address this gap in the literature by examining the lifetime prevalence of PG among male prisoners, whilst identifying prisoners of Aboriginal background. The EIGHT Gambling Screen (Early Intervention Gambling Health Test) was administered to 296 prisoners across three male prisons in South Australia. Previous help-seeking behaviour and forms of gambling were also examined. Sixty percent of prisoners indicated a lifetime prevalence of PG with 18% reporting they were incarcerated due to offending relating to their gambling problem. Indigenous Australian prisoners indicated a significantly higher prevalence of PG (75%) than non-Indigenous prisoners (57%) and reported less than half the rate of help-seeking. Given the high levels of PG and overall low rates of help-seeking among prisoners, prisons may provide an important opportunity to engage this high-risk population with effective treatment programs, in particular culturally appropriate targeted interventions for Australian Indigenous prisoners.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of psychotic illnesses among men received to prisons in New South Wales. The study also sought to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the psychosis screener in the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI-Auto). Method: The study was part of a larger study on psychiatric disorder in men received to New South Wales prisons. Using a structured questionnaire, the CIDI-Auto (modified), which included screening questions for psychotic illness, the prisoners who gave positive responses to the screening questions for psychosis as well as any subjects considered by the experienced clinicians performing the CIDI-Auto interviews to show features of a psychotic illness, were referred to the researchers for a clinical assessment. The clinical assessment included a review of all available information. Results: Of the prisoners, 5.1% were thought to have definite psychotic illness and 1.9% to have possible psychotic illness. The psychosis screener was found to be neither sensitive nor specific. Conclusions: The rate of psychotic illness among people remanded to New South Wales prisons is between 10 and 14 times the rate found in a similar study in the wider community. The poor performance of the psychosis screener suggests that screening for psychotic illness on reception to prisons should be performed by clinically trained staff.

Purpose Prisoners are vulnerable to tobacco addiction and have a smoking prevalence significantly higher than that of the general community. The context of this study was the implementation of a “smoke-free prisons” policy, which imposed forced smoking cessation onto the Queensland, Australian prison population. The study asked the question: “What are the psychosocial processes in which male prisoners engage during smoking cessation in a smoke-free environment?” Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 prisoners in South-east Queensland smoke-free correctional centres. Grounded theory methodology was applied to construct a theory of the processes of smoking cessation. Findings The constructed theory was named Engaging with Quitting. In this model, prisoners proceed through a cycle of evaluations, adjustments and reflections on their reality as related to the smoke-free prison. The study gives first-hand accounts of the prisoners’ use (and abuse) of nicotine replacement therapy. Three personality typologies emerged from the data: The Angry Smoker, the Shifting Opportunist and the Optimistic Quitter. Research limitations/implications This qualitative study makes no claim of generalisability and cannot be taken to represent all prisoners. Females, youths and culturally diverse prisoners were not represented in the sample. Practical implications Smoking cessation in prisons must be recognised as an ongoing process, rather than a discrete event. A coordinated approach between custodial and health authorities is required to minimise maladaptive coping strategies. Originality/value This study provides a descriptive account of the processes prisoners undertake during involuntary smoking cessation and has described the manner in which prisoners manufacture home-made tobacco from nicotine patches. The study has produced an original theory named Engaging with Quitting.

Background: Dental dams have been distributed to women prisoners for protection against HIV and other sexually transmissible infections (STIs) in some Canadian and Australian prisons for over a decade. However, we do not know whether they serve any useful public health purpose. Objective: To determine how dental dams are used in women’s prisons in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Method: Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we investigated women’s sexual practices with a focus on how dental dams are used in NSW prisons. Results: Although 71 of the 199 (36%) women reported having had sex with another inmate, with oral sex involved in most encounters, only eight (4%) had ever used a dental dam. The main sources of STI transmission risk among women prisoners were oral sex, manual sex and sharing dildos. Furthermore, sharing razors could also allow the transmission of blood-borne viruses, which could occur during sex in the presence of cuts or menstrual fluid. The high rates of hepatitis B and C among incarcerated women compound this risk. Conclusion: Dental dams are not widely used by women prisoners and we question their utility in women’s prisons. Oral sex is an important risk factor for acquisition of herpes simplex virus type 1, but most women in NSW prisons (89%) are already infected. Condoms and latex gloves may have more use. Condoms could be used as a barrier on shared dildos and sex toys, while latex gloves could be used to protect cut and grazed hands from vaginal and menstrual fluids.

The prison officer is central to prison life, yet understandings of this role are limited. This thesis argues that the two overarching (and often competitive)conceptualisations of prison officers' work as custodial work or human services work are limited. Eight conceptualisations of prison officers' work from the correctional literature are identified - Para-military officer, Security Officer, Warehouser of prisoners, Public Servant /bureaucrat, Professional, Manager of Prisoners , Therapist and Case Manager. These conceptualisations are defined and related to one another by examining their construction through discourses of prison purpose and prison process (Adler and Longhurst 1994). The thesis develops the analysis of du Gay (1996) that organisations use discourse as a means of constructing work identities for their employees and the work of Halford and Leonard (1999) who argue that workers are active agents in this process and do not always take on the identity the organisation is seeking to promote. The thesis addresses three research questions How has the role of the prison officer been conceptualised by the South Australian Department for Correctional Services over time? How is the role of the prison officer currently conceptualised by personnel working within South Australian prisons, what influences the way the role is conceptualised and what purposes do these conceptualisations serve? To what extent have the new conceptualisations of the role of the prison officer, articulated by the Department for Correctional Services in the last ten years, been adopted by staff within prisons and what determines the influence of these new conceptualisations? These questions are addressed using qualitative research techniques of document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The thesis identifies that in recent decades the Department has emphasised conceptualisations of the role constructed from normalisation and rehabilitative discourses. Interviewees, forty-four working in three South Australian prisons, (both departmental and privately managed), conceptualised the work of a prison officer as complex and unique and identified three influential audiences for the performance of prison officers' work – prisoners, officers and their colleagues, and the Departmental hierarchy. Interviewees constructed the role of the prison officer in terms that would earn respect for the work from each of these audiences and manage the vulnerability of the officer as a worker and a prison officer. Half of those interviewed conceptualised the prison officer based on a Manager of Prisoners. Other interviewees, critical of the role within their prison, described it as a Warehouser and saw the competition between custodial and human services roles as irreconcilable. The thesis argues that Departmental discourse can be seen to have a significant influence on the conceptualisation of the prison officer’s role by those working within prisons, but that it competes for influence with the discourse of the other powerful audiences for the performance of prison officers' work – prisoners and other staff.

Bonnie Singleton, wife of United States Air Force helicopter rescue pilot Jerry Singleton, saw her world turned upside down when her husband was shot down while making a rescue in North Vietnam in 1965. At first, the United States government advised her to say very little publicly concerning her husband, and she complied. After the capture of the American spy ship, the U.S.S. Pueblo by North Korea, and the apparent success in freeing the naval prisoners when Mrs. Rose Bucher, the ship captain's wife, spoke out, Mrs. Singleton changed her opinion and embarked upon a campaign to raise public awareness about American prisoners of war held by the Communist forces in Southeast Asia. Mrs. Singleton, along with other Dallas-area family members, formed local grass-roots organizations to notify people around the world about the plight of American POWs. They enlisted the aid of influential congressmen, such as Olin "Tiger" Teague of College Station, Texas; President Richard M. Nixon and his administration; millionaire Dallas businessman Ross Perot; WFAA television in Dallas; and other news media outlets worldwide. In time, Bonnie Singleton, other family members, and the focus groups they helped start encouraged North Vietnam to release the names of prisoners, allow mail and packages to be sent to the POWs, and afford better treatment for prisoners of war.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis narrates and analyses the experiences of a sample of South Africans who were captured during the Second World War. The research is based on oral testimony, memoirs, archival evidence and to a lesser degree on secondary sources. The former prisoners-of-war (POW) who participated in the research and those whose memoirs were studied were all captured at the Battle of Sidi Rezegh in November 1941 or during the fall of Tobruk in June 1942. The aim of the research is to present oral and written POW testimony in order to augment the dearth of knowledge regarding South African POW historical experience. The scope of the research includes the decision to volunteer for the Union Defence Force, the experiences in North Africa, capture and initial experiences in the so-called ‘hell camps of North Africa’, the transportation to Italy and life in the Italian prison camps, events surrounding the Italian Armistice and the consequent escape attempts thereafter. For those POWs who did not escape, the experience of captivity continued with transport to Germany, experiences in German camps, including working in labour camps and the Allied bombing campaign. Lastly, the end of the war and the experience of liberation, which in most cases included forced marches, are dealt with before the focus turns once again towards South Africa and the experience of homecoming and demobilisation. The affective and intellectual experiences of the POWs are also investigated as their personal experience and emotions are presented and examined. These include the experience of guilt and shame during capture, the acceptance or non-acceptance of captivity, blame, attitudes towards the enemy and towards each other, as well as the experience of fear and hope, which was especially relevant during the bombing campaign and during periods when they were being transported between countries and camps. The thesis concludes with an analysis of the POW experience which looks at aspects relating to identity among South African POWs. The final conclusion is drawn that the POW identity took precedence over national identity. As a result of the strong POW identity and their desire for complete freedom and desire to claim individuality, the POWs did not, on the whole, display great interest in becoming involved in South African politics after the war even though many of them strongly disagreed with the Nationalist segregationist ideologies that claimed increasing support between 1945 and 1948.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis beskryf en ontleed die ervarings van dié Suid-Afrikaners wat tydens die Tweede Wêreldoorlog gevange geneem is. Die navorsing is gebaseer op mondelinge getuienis, memoires, argivale bewysmateriaal en, in ’n mindere mate, op sekondêre bronne. Die voormalige krygsgevangenes wat aan die navorsing deelgeneem het en wie se memoires bestudeer is, is almal in November 1941 by die Geveg van Sidi Rezegh of in Junie 1942 met die val van Tobruk gevange geneem. Die doel van die navorsing is om mondelinge en skriftelike getuienisse van krygsgevangenes aan te bied ten einde die gebrekkige kennis ten opsigte van Suid-Afrikaanse krygsgevangenes se historiese ervaring uit te brei. Die omvang van die navorsing sluit die besluit in om vrywillig diens te doen vir die Unie-verdedigingsmag, die ervarings in Noord-Afrika, gevangeneming en eerste ervarings in die sogenaamde “helkampe van Noord-Afrika”, die vervoer na Italië en lewe in die Italiaanse gevangeniskampe, gebeure rondom die Italiaanse wapenstilstand en die daaropvolgende ontsnappingspogings. Vir die krygsgevangenes wat nie ontsnap het nie, het die ervaring van gevangenskap voortgeduur deur vervoer na Duitsland, ervarings in Duitse kampe, waaronder strafkampe, en die bombarderings deur die Geallieerdes. Ten slotte word aandag gegee aan die einde van die oorlog en die ervaring van vryheid, wat in die meeste gevalle gedwonge marse behels het, voordat die fokus terugkeer na Suid-Afrika en die ervaring van tuiskoms en demobilisasie. Die affektiewe en intellektuele ervarings van die krygsgevangenes word ook ontleed, aangesien hul persoonlike ervarings en emosies ondersoek en aangebied word. Dit sluit die ervaring van skuld en skaamte tydens die gevangeneming in, die aanvaarding of nie-aanvaarding van gevangeskap, blaam, houdings teenoor die vyand en mekaar, sowel as die ervaring van vrees en hoop, wat veral belangrik was gedurende die bombarderingsveldtog en vervoer tussen lande en kampe. Die tesis sluit af met ’n ontleding van aspekte wat verband hou met identiteit onder die Suid- Afrikaanse krygsgevangenes. Die bevinding is dat die krygsgevangene-identiteit voorrang geniet het bo die nasionale identiteit. Verder het die sterk drang na volkome vryheid en die begeerte om hul individualiteit terug te kry daartoe gelei dat die voormalige krygsgevangenes na die oorlog oor die algemeen ’n ambivalensie jeens Suid-Afrikaanse politiek openbaar.

Doctor Legum - LLD
In South Africa, prison authorities are not primarily concerned with the health of the prison population. This is evidenced by inter alia: the vast number of complaints regarding health care received by the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Centres; natural deaths in prisons reported annually; litigation regarding health care and treatment in prisons; and the notoriously poor conditions of detention which inevitably have a negative impact on prisoners' health. There is as a result a noticeable difference between state provided health care to the public and health care in prisons. This thesis is therefore aimed at unpacking what the right to health means in respect of terminally ill prisoners. This question has been overshadowed by issues regarding medical parole in South Africa and intermittently by calls for palliative care in prisons. Whilst these issues are relevant to their plight, there is a need to articulate the scope of the right to health of terminally ill prisoners. This is imperative as not all prisoners who are terminally ill are eligible for medical parole and there are instances where the granting of such parole may be impractical. An analysis of the right to health in relation to terminally ill prisoners will provide legal certainty as to the legal entitlements regarding health care for one of the most vulnerable groups in society. They will know what they may legally claim and what they cannot insist upon in terms of the law.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2004.
Title from title screen (viewed 5 May 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Sociology and Social Policy, Faculty of Arts. Degree awarded 2004; thesis submitted 2003. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Risk taking behaviours such as drug use, sexual activities and tattooing are prevalent in the correctional institutions, including those in South Africa. Such behaviours pose a serious challenge as regards health care of inmates. In particular, these behaviours contribute to the transmission of HIV/AIDS which results in morbidity and mortality. Harm reduction components are employed as effective measure to curb the spread of the pandemic. These components are lauded owing to their considerable impact. They consist of needle exchange programmes, substitution therapy, condom provision and education. Various developing (Morocco, Brazil and Egypt) and developed (Scotland and Canada) countries make use of such components to address risk taking behaviours in correctional institutions. Although condom provision and education have been implemented by the South African Department of Correctional Services in state institutions, there is an urgent need to enhance the efforts. This study investigates the extent of risk taking behaviours amongst inmates at the Leeuwkop Correctional Centre. It also determines the level of knowledge of inmates and staff regarding HIV/AIDS. The researcher employed a qualitative form of methodology, collecting data by means of a structured questionnaire. The data was coded and analysed by means of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The findings reveal that the risk taking behaviours are prevalent at the Leeuwkop Correctional Centre. Furthermore, the analysis of the knowledge items regarding HIV/AIDS indicates that there are certain deficits that require attention. They are also notable differences in the primary sources of HIV information for inmates and staff. It was found that a dire need exists to enhance and expand current harm reduction initiatives in correctional institutions in order to offer health care services that are compliant with international conventions such as the Dublin Declaration on HIV/AIDS as well as the South African Constitution. Reluctance to do so is tantamount to housing inmates in „de facto‟ death chambers. Hence the augmentation of such initiatives is strongly recommended.
Penology
D. Litt. et Phil. (Penology)

Prison, a place that no one can call home, a place where all that was familiar no longer exists, a place where a friendly face is nowhere to be seen, a place that is full of hostility. That which becomes ‘home’ is nothing more than a concrete space, a hole in which one is expected to live. Those with whom the prisoners come into contact are hostile, unkind and unfair. Thus, as a means by which to retain sanity and show the world what happens on the ‘inside’, prisoners begin to write – they begin to write in hostile spaces. This study will argue that the body of writings that constitute ‘South African prison literature’ is both substantial and under-researched. For both of these reasons it warrants closer examination. Another argument that this thesis will advance is that specific authors have made major contributions to this collection of works, with Herman Charles Bosman being the foremost of these. Bosman not only pioneered the prison novel in South Africa, but also set the mould within which most of the other prison-authors have patterned their works. Herman Charles Bosman is often referred to as the ‘father’ of South African prison literature. Such a statement of course presupposes that there is a discernible body of writing that can be called ‘prison literature’. This study will attempt to show that within the larger corpus of South African literature there is indeed a body of writing that can usefully be categorized under the broad rubric ‘prison literature’. Undertaking such a categorization, however, requires generating certain criteria, and then applying these criteria to determine whether specific works adhere to them. For the purposes of this study, the most important criterion is that, for a work to be considered as belonging to the corpus of South African prison literature, it must be about the writer’s personal experience of prison. In other words, fictional (imaginative) narratives about prison life will fall beyond the purview of this study. While it must be conceded that this criterion is not unarguable and self-evident, as the study proceeds it will, I believe, be seen that there is good sense in excluding purely fictional works. (Chapter Three advances the argument for this criterion in more detail.) Other variables have been accommodated – for example, from which prison the prisoner is writing, whether the prisoner writes about his or her experience during or after imprisonment, the nature of the crime committed and when the imprisonment took place. In addition, there is no rigidity about the number of criteria a particular work must fulfil in order to be included in this study (Chapter Three also discusses these criteria at length). One of the questions this thesis will attempt to answer is why prisoners write in the first place. Society’s stereotypical view of a criminal – someone lacking in morals and education – is no doubt dominant, and the notion of a ‘criminal’ adding value to the study of literature is not often conceptualized by many. Writing becomes a powerful tool for the authors examined here, often for different reasons and purposes, but a tool nonetheless. Paul Gready says that, “the word is a weapon that both inflicts pain and secures power. Prisoners are relentlessly rewritten within the official ‘power of writing’… Within this process the prisoner’s sense of self and world is undermined, pain is made visible and objectified in writing and converted into state power [but] prisoners write to restore a sense of self and world, to reclaim the ‘truth’ from the apartheid lie, to seek empowerment in an oppositional ‘power of writing’ against the official text of imprisonment” (1993: 489). The thesis will attempt to show that, notwithstanding their considerable diversity, individual works within the corpus of South African prison literature share many common characteristics. Despite this the study will show also that, even though the prison writings have many common threads running through them, there are many differences within individual writings and the body of literature as a whole. It could be argued that, in earlier years, the works that are the subject of this study were quite satisfactorily regarded as part of other genres (for example, autobiography). So is the whole process of reclassification necessary? In other words, is there any point in attempting to argue for a distinct category of writing (‘prison literature’)? One of the points that will be made in detail later is that frequently the prison writings of a particular writer are only a small aspect of his or her larger oeuvre, and these writings have merely been included in more general discussions of the author’s body of work as a whole. Clearly, this does not do justice to the distinct nature of such a writer’s prison writings. It is the purpose of this study to give the works that make up the corpus of South African prison literature their due. The thesis begins with a brief summation of the prison system in South Africa. This chapter puts the experiences that follow into context. Many of the laws under which these writers were held no longer exist and so, in the interest of better understanding, these are explained in the first chapter as well. This is followed by a brief survey of prison literature. Chapter Two attempts to provide a concise and up-to-date list of the primary and secondary sources that make up the category ‘prison literature.’ Chapter Three introduces the term ‘prison literature’. The chapter includes many of the common characteristics found in prison writing, and outlines the essential criteria of this body of writing. This is followed by a brief examination of the various theories of literature that can be found in prison literature. Chapter Four introduces a vital aspect of the thesis and the argument provided within it. An examination of the theories of Foucault takes place in this chapter. He offers a thread that binds all prison literature together when he states that the prison system is put in place to punish an offender. Modern power to punish is based on the supervision and organization of bodies in time and space. The thesis will then argue that it is in this very space that prisoners write. Thus the hostile space of prison and prison life provides the context in which the literature under examination can be created.The second section of the thesis contains the close examinations of the prison writings of various authors. This section begins with a fairly comprehensive chapter on Cold Stone Jug (Chapter Five), and attempts to describe the foundation that Bosman laid in the writing of this novel. The chapters thereafter include comparisons between each individual prisonauthor’s work and Bosman’s seminal novel, noting the similarities and differences. Each of these chapters (Chapters Six to Nine) also provides a justification for the selection of each of the authors discussed and attempts to show why their writing must be considered some of the greatest prison literature produced in South Africa. Chapter Six examines the prison novel as exemplified in the writings of Breyten Breytenbach and Hugh Lewin. Chapter Seven introduces the concept of prison poetry. It is shown how poets like Jeremy Cronin and Dennis Brutus have also followed the example of Bosman, despite the generic difference in their work. This chapter also attempts to show why poetry must be considered an important part of this novel-dominated category of writing. This argument continues in Chapter Eight, in which prison letters and diaries are discussed and shown to be a vital part of prison literature. The main focus of this chapter is the writings of Ahmed Kathrada. Chapter Nine introduces the writing of women prisoners. This writing shares the typical characteristics found in the works of the prisoners’ male counterparts. No one novelist or poet is examined in detail. This section rather examines women’s writing as a topic in terms of the study as a whole. Importantly, however, it shows that prison writing is not gender- or race-specific. The thesis concludes by discussing the notion that these authors wrote and lived in hostile spaces not only during their imprisonment, but also afterwards: life after imprisonment becomes a hostile space too. The conclusion argues that a clear development can be found in this writing – vii from the publication of Cold Stone Jug in 1949 up until the publication of the final documents from Robben Island in the 1990s.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2018
The study was about the knowledge and attitudes of offenders towards the performance of medical male circumcision in prisons. The aim of the study was to determine and asses the knowledge and attitudes of offenders towards the performance of medical male circumcision in prisons. A quantitative study was conducted by using researcher-administered questionnaires at Leeuwkop Management area, maximum centre. A simple random sampling of two hundred and twenty-three male respondents was selected from all races and only two hundred and three managed to complete the questionnaires correctly. Data was analysed using Statistical package for the social sciences software program. Data was presented using descriptive and inferential statistics. More than half of the respondents were medically circumcised and less than half of the medically circumcised respondents had performed it in prisons. Most respondents were between the ages of 25-35 years and majority of them have shown fair knowledge and negative attitude towards the performance of medical male circumcision in prisons. It was recommended that thorough health education on the benefits of medical male circumcision should be stressed to offenders. For medical male circumcision programme to succeed, offenders should have adequate knowledge on male circumcision and its benefits.

Sexual practices in prisons the world over are almost the same. Men incarcerated for many years in limited space with other men without the opportunity for normal heterosexual sexual outlet end up practicing homosexual sex. South African prisons are not an exception. In this dissertation I tackled a number of issues from a Christian Ethics perspective, with a slant from the Evangelical wing of Christianity as this is my background. The few issues I investigated from a South African prison system are the following. Firstly the issue of homosexuality was looked at from an Evangelical perspective. The conclusion was that the practice of homosexuality is a sin just like any other sexual deviation from the God ordained sex within marriage. Secondly empirical research was done to verify homosexual sex in prisons in South Africa. The results of this research confirmed that homosexual sex acts are a daily occurrence in our prisons. The results also showed that the aspect of indecent assault, forced or coerced homosexual sex acts now classified as “male rape,” was rife in prisons. Other factors related to this matter were that prison gangs and Correctional members’ complicity aggravated this issue of “male rape”. Thirdly we looked at the policy of “no sex in prison” as set out by the Department of Correctional Services. A number of discrepancies were uncovered. Firstly, there is unfair discrimination in the treatment of heterosexuals and homosexuals in prisons. Whereas heterosexuals are legally barred from having sex with their spouses while in prison, homosexuals are having sex in prison with their partners. Although the DOCS insists on the policy of no sex in prison, they appear to be condoning it in that they provide free condoms to inmates. In accordance with the stipulation of the Bill of Rights regarding unfair discrimination, the DOCS should treat inmates equally. To make matters worse, the South African Government has sanctioned same sex unions but failed to put in place effective control measures in correctional service centres to ensure that the policy of no sex in prison is not undermined. The DOCS should look at either allowing heterosexuals to have conjugal visits or ensure that homosexuals are not put together in the same cell, so as to adhere to this policy. Fourthly the issue punishment and rehabilitation was also investigated. This was done from a Christian ethical perspective. The Department of Correctional Services says that their objective is not to punishment but to rehabilitate. The discussion showed that putting convicted criminals in prison was a punishment on its own. It was further discussed that punishment is biblical, and that whilst punishment should be left to God, He in turn has put governments on earth as His servants to mete out punishment to those who deserve it. It was also discussed that rehabilitation does not happen automatically, that it needs a buy in by the individual concerned as seen from the examples of individuals cited in the thesis. Lastly, the causes of such sexual behaviour in prison were investigated. Corrupt officials, overcrowding and inadequate food supply, among others, are matters to be rectified in dealing with this problem. Alternatives to jail sentences for minor offences are also strongly suggested so as to alleviate the problem of overcrowding.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008.
Dogmatics and Christian Ethics
unrestricted

This thesis presents the first empirical study into the accommodation needs of Australian Aboriginal prisoners in prison custody. The over-representation of Aboriginal people in the Australian prison system is increasing and the continuing deaths of Aboriginal peoples in prison custody by suicide are an important national issue. Previous prison studies have not addressed all of the issues surrounding this problem. Although the varying and differing accommodation needs of Aboriginal prisoners have been recognised since the 1800s, there is a limited understanding of the relationship between the prison environment and the rates of suicide among Aboriginal prisoners. The aim of the thesis is to investigate the issues and present findings which may contribute to the creation of prison environments which reduce stress levels, and may in turn decrease rates of suicide among Aboriginal prisoners. The research investigates the prison environment for the Aboriginal prisoner from a people-environments approach, locates the act of suicide among a series of behaviours which may occur in response to an environment incongruent with the needs of users. These responses are influenced by a complex of personal, environmental and institutional factors. Data for the research was gathered by studying five South Australian prisons and conducting a series of interviews with 55 male Aboriginal prisoners incarcerated within them. The prisons were documented using observations, interviews with staff and prisoners, photographic surveys and environmental walkthroughs. Both the accommodation standards, and the responsibility to provide those standards by the Department for Correctional Services (South Australia), are examined. The needs and preferences of the subject group were investigated using a three-stage interview process which included gathering personal and incarceration profiles, a forced choice experiment employing photographic sets and a number of drawing exercises to elicit design preferences. The results present a picture of the Aboriginal prison population in South Australia and their design needs. It shows that there are commonalities among the Aboriginal prisoner population in that they are relatively young, have relatively large numbers of children and are dependent on other family members for stability outside the prison environment. Aboriginal people display non-complaint and resistance behaviours and are consequently segregated at an alarming rate in South Australian prisons. The research identifies that prison environments in South Australia are often incongruent with the needs of Aboriginal prisoners. The thesis presents the argument for prison environments to move from being designed within philosophies of segregation and separation to recognising the importance of Aboriginal domiciliary practices, lifestyles structured around the social group and the need to maintain connections to country for all Aboriginal prisoners. The need for prison environments to take into account the identity and spirituality of Aboriginal prisoners is highlighted. The thesis yields further understandings on the design of prison environments for Aboriginal prisoners and will stimulate debate on incarcerating Aboriginal people in a Western tradition.
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Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Architecture, 2008

After peace talks began in Paris, the female delegation of Nguyen Thi Binh, foreign minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) of South Viet Nam, spearheaded people's diplomatic efforts as Binh’s own poised, determined, and feminine presence on the world stage inspired countless women around the world. Complementing the PRG women's efforts, U.S. women activists continued to travel to Viet Nam—both North and South. The context of American women's activism had shifted in two significant ways, however. First, the incarceration of Vietnamese political prisoners in South Viet Nam in "tiger cages" came to light in July 1970. Second, the context of growing feminist sentiment colored the views of women peace activists. The U.S. military's complicity in the deplorable prison conditions in the South led women peace activists to perceive social inequalities in the United States as they also noted the distinguished positions of women in North Viet Nam. They came to describe Vietnamese women in the North as having gained "liberation" and claimed South Vietnamese society had actually deteriorated because of U.S. intervention.

This chapter explores the challenges of memory work for Vietnamese diasporic subjects in the face of postwar historical amnesia and trauma. It analyzes Aimee Phan’s The Reeducation of Cherry Truong, which tells the story of two families that fled from the Vietnam War still grappling with the messiness of their war-torn past. Offering a powerful analytic for situating gendered practices of remembering and forgetting by mostly women, the term “reeducation” suggests that refugee memory work never simply takes the form of nostalgia or denial of the past but is a constant negotiation of history as interpreted through past wrongs or obligations. As a hermeneutic for critically reading the refugee as a figure of debt, “reeducation” links the programmatic indoctrination of South Vietnamese political prisoners by communists to the Western pedagogical program to civilize refugees from South Vietnam, recognizing the psychic and material debt survivors of war owe to the sacrifices and suffering of others, and the political agency found in that recognition.

The chapter offers a study of changing social relations within the prison system during the transition from 60s-era activism to gang formation in the beginning decades of mass incarceration. Between the decades of the 1960s and 1990s, California experienced a societal shift within prisons from interracial and Black Power campaigns for prisoners’ rights to the racialized balkanization and violence stemming from the rise of prison gangs and the worsening of prison conditions due to overcrowding. Within prisons, mass incarceration’s effect reshaped prison societies because the rapid growth of prison populations accelerated the violence that accompanies human caging. Internal dynamics of societal change reflected California’s changing racial demography, as Cold War defense industries and giant agribusinesses attracted African American laborers from the U.S. South and Mexican migrant laborers from across the border. As mass incarceration swept up more people of color in California’s overcrowded prison system, the prior social networks centered on politicization and protest were disrupted and replaced by rival prison gangs who met the needs of a sub rosa internal prison economy with racial violence and competition.