Overcoming Prison and Addiction (Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice Series)

An engaging writer, Chuck Terry presents this powerful study on the tremendous obstacles that drug addicts drifting in and out of prison must overcome in order to get clean and "make it" in society. Thoroughly researched and based on sound theory, this book covers how societal reaction to drugs and addiction shape criminal policy and behavior. Terry's powerful voice as a writer brings each of "the fellas" to life as he tells their story on how they became addicts and documents their on going struggle with addiction---both in and out of prison. Terry follows the story of "the fellas" as they beat the odds, get clean, and try to make a better life for themselves. And, he tells the somber story of those who are not able to overcome the obstacles of drugs and prison.

Chuck Terry is a graduate of the Ph.D. program at the University of California-Irvine where he was a student of Paul Jesilow and Joan Petersilia. He currently is a faculty member in the department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at St. Louis University. He has also served as a faculty member at the University of Michigan-Flint. Having served 12 years in prisons and jails in California and Oregon for "drug-related crimes," he developed a unique perspective on prisonization---a term referring to the process through which incarcerated individuals become shaped by the prison environment.