New Jack Gaurding Sing Sing

Popular culture is a curious thing. In a society where writers spend vast amounts of time and energy exploring the character complexities of criminals, portrayals of correctional officers are almost consistently unflattering and one-dimensional. Correctional officers are almost always portrayed as bad guys. They are depicted as inherently sadistic and mindlessly authoritarian, as one-dimensional characters without redeeming qualities.

This inaccurate and unsympathetic image of the guard is a staple of both popular fiction and many firsthand accounts of prison life. It can be found in the writings of Jack Abbot, Brendan Behan, and Eldridge Cleaver, and in films like “Cool Hand Luke”, “Brubaker”, and “Shawshank Redemption.” There are, of course, exceptions. One of these is Ted Conover’s new book, Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing. It is one of a very few recent books to get beyond the stereotype of the brutal guard to explore the complex nature of correctional work.

Conover is now well-known for a series of books recounting in-depth, firsthand experiences of some of American society’s more obscure subcultures. He spent a year hopping freight trains