Poetic Justice: Reflections on the Big House, the Death House, and the American Way of Justice (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Robert Johnson’s Poetic Justice is a subtle and at times sardonic study of crime and punishment, justice and injustice. The poems in this book take a fresh look at concepts we take for granted (like reasonable doubt and the presumption of innocence), and offer unflinching portraits of the dark side of power – brutal crimes (including crimes of terror), harsh sanctions (including the death penalty) and the routine, invisible, yet profound traumas that are part and parcel of our legal process, starting with arrest and ending with a deep and often irrevocable change in the identity and even the destiny of those we label criminal. Poetic Justice is filled with vivid images that will stay with the reader long after the book has been put down.

From the Publisher

This is a book of exquisite poetry that deals with the American System of Justice and subjects such as: Crime and Punishment, Prison, Prejudice, Privilege, Execution, and Terror (under the heading, Carnage and Consequences). The poems offer a new perspective, and are always interesting and well crafted.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 108 pages
• Publisher: Conservatory of American Letters (August 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890023670
• ISBN-13: 978-0890023679
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,289,782 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Criminal Justice Has Found Its Poet, October 13, 2003

By	Jeffrey H Reiman (Washington, DC, USA) - See all my reviews

What a wonderful and unusual book! Robert Johnson, well-known for his scholarly analyses of the experiences of prisoners on death row and of their executioners, here presents poems that his studies have inspired him to write. While his rightly-acclaimed scholarly books tell us what his brain learned from studying the darkest corners of our criminal justice system, his poems tell us what his heart learned: "All of us, made/Cold as ice, hard as steel/unable to feel/the harm we do/in the name of justice." Anyone who wants a full understanding of criminal justice in America should not read only scholarly works of the sort that Johnson and others have written, but should read this book as well!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry and the Criminal Justice system, October 15, 2003

By A Customer

Poignant and powerful, lyrical and raw, Rob Johnson's poems make us feel and think about what the death penalty does to the condemned, and to us. A gem for lovers of poetry and undergraduates in criminal justice or ethics courses alike.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetic Theoretical Criminology, December 9, 2004

By	James Moneymaker (Albany, N.Y. USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the work Poetic Justice, Rob Johnson takes the reader on a fascinating portrayal of life as an inmate experiences it. Johnson eloquently humanizes the prison experience, and in so doing allows the reader an intimate exposure to the world of the incarcerated. The raw and often dispassionate views are real and force the reader to realize just how ineffective our modern prison system is. The empathy that is often conveyed in even the most simple of passages is disturbing and challenges all who read these verses to recognize the need to rectify societies thirst for vengeance and retribution while adopting solutions that are not only theoreticaly sound but practically effective as well. Our modern prison system is in an imbalanced impasse where both staff and inmates co-exist in a limbo of uncertainty of each other, and where human congestion results in a gauntlet of violence, greed and desperation.

As a college instructor, I have found this reader to be of utmost value in having students relate many of the theories of criminology that we study in class to the verses of the poems.
The very first poem which uses the book's title "Poetic Justice" emphasizes a collaboration of conflict theory and class hostility, along with social structural theories such as disorganization and strain theory in which the author posits "Build prisons not day-care, lock 'em up what do we care? Hire cops, not counselors, staff courts, not clinics, wage warfare, not welfare." Our system of government, schools, and employment often creates the very problems they portend to deal with by not providing the assistance, education, employment and comunity programs where needed. The government advocates punishment over rehabilitation and structural services to provide for the poor and disenfranchised. With limited opportunities, disillusionment grows as does poverty and crime.

In another poem entitled "Busted," the author relates "You thought you'd make a big score, now you face the prison door." "But once we tag you a criminal, we hate to let you go." "Busted, sitting in a squad car,...looking in the rearview mirror at the life you left behind." In this selection, classical theory with it's emphasis on "free will" is evident along with social strain, particularly institutional anomie and relative deprivation, to convey the feeling of being busted. Labeling thoery is also examined through a series of successful degradation ceremonies of a a life of freedom now squandered for a life behind bars.

In "Colder" a violent offender has turned to crime as a result of weakened social bonds. Indeed, he is often cold and calculating, "disconnected," and numb to emotion like a machine or "robot." Since his primary source of socialization was absent during his early childhood, little was learned of compassion and comfort, he feels no attachment to his victims. He lacked the discipline, care and support offered by strong family ties. There is no containment, self-enhancement, or strong bonds or models to imitate. "He lives for revenge -cold world, cold comfort." He is doomed to a life of crime and misery. "There's no over the rainbow for this guy, just one long storm."

In classic Marxian taste, Johnson dispels any rumors that prisons are non-discriminating in the poem "Prison." His not so subtle use of such terms as "people of poverty," "working wounded," "dispossessed," and "discarded," clearly points to the prison industry as being created almost entirely with the thought of the poor and indigent in mind, indeed, to smother the hopes of the impoverished. Dehumanization and the ultimate sense of total exclusion from society is echoed in "Prison time out of sight, time out of mind, for those who don't toe the line." Still, one is left to wonder whether the inmate failed society or did society fail the inmate?

These were only a sampling of the many theoretical compositions that are readily apparent in these poems. In almost every case, several theories can be examined which is a great method to get students to understand the theories more concretely when used in the light of both prose and poetry. I highly recommend this reader for both undergraduate and graduate courses in criminology or criminal justice.