Baz Dreisinger

The author, Baz Dreisinger, is an instructor who teaches incarcerated students in New York. During a sabbatical, she traveled the world to compare foreign prisons and teach some of their inmates. I learned so much about crime in other countries. I don't know what I was expecting but there were more similarities than differences. Remorse and impact on families are not divided by borders. What was different was how countries dole out sentencing.
I admire the author's bravery for entering each of the prisons. Watching "Lockup" on MSNBC is intriguing. Yet, if I was asked to do the reporting in real time, I do not think I would have the gumption. I appreciate writers like Baz Dreisinger who values education enough to share it with the world.… (altro)

Dr. Dreisinger travels to different prisons around the world, giving 2-day seminars to the prisoners and comparing the pros and cons of each prison system.

I admit this book wasn't quite what I expected. I expected it to have more complaints (with evidence) about the problems of overincarceration. Although it did contain such comments, that was not the point of the book. It was a fascinating description of different prisons throughout the world and what they were doing right (and wrong) in rehabilitating their inmates. She left some prisons feeling uplifted and left others feeling quite depressed. I found the book quite interesting even if it wasn't quite what I expected.… (altro)

I read this book for my Social Justice class and I had the honor of meeting the author (and having her sign my book).

This book was insanely good. Our class had just read The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness prior to this and this book out shined it in comparison. The New Jim Crow left me dissatisfied at the end, offering me no real, clear, solution to the problem. This book, however, did and gave me hope for the future. Additionally, her writing style is incredible. It's so engaging and she really takes you on a journey. She has a way of making some big points in really subtle ways.

As for meeting her, she is just as wonderful in person and she really is doing so much for prison reform and mass incarceration. She is working on so many new projects. Her optimism is inspiring.… (altro)