Essays in this volume illustrate how shows such as Orange Is the New Black and Oz impact the public’s perception of crime rates, the criminal justice system, and imprisonment. Contributors look at prison wives on reality television series, portrayals of death row, breastfeeding while in prison, transgender prisoners, and black masculinity. They also examine the ways in which media messages ignore an individual’s struggle against an all too frequently biased system and instead dehumanize the incarcerated as violent and overwhelmingly masculine. Together these essays argue media reform is necessary for penal reform, proposing that more accurate media representations of prison life could improve public support for programs dealing with poverty, abuse, and drug addiction—factors that increase the likelihood of criminal activity and incarceration. Scholars from cultural and critical studies, feminist studies, queer studies, African American studies, media studies, sociology, and psychology offer critical analysis of media depictions of prison, bridging the media’s portrayals of incarcerated lives with actual experiences and bringing to light forgotten voices in prison narratives.

Now more than ever, we need to understand the social, political, and economic shifts that have driven the United States to triple its prison construction in just over three decades. John Eason goes a very considerable distance here in fulfilling this need, not by detailing the aftereffects of building huge numbers of prisons, but by vividly showing the process by which a community seeks to get a prison built in their area. What prompted him to embark on this inquiry was the insistent question of why the rapid expansion of prisons in America, why now, and why so many. He quickly learned that the prison boom is best understood from the perspective of the rural, southern towns where they tend to be placed (North Carolina has twice as many prisons as New Jersey, though both states have the same number of prisoners). And so he sets up shop, as it were, in Forrest City, Arkansas, where he moved with his family to begin the splendid fieldwork that led to this book. A major part of his story deals with the emergence of the rural ghetto, abetted by white flight, de-industrialization, the emergence of public housing, and higher proportions of blacks and Latinos. How did Forrest City become a site for its prison? Eason takes us behind the decision-making scenes, tracking the impact of stigma (a prison in my backyard-not a likely desideratum), economic development, poverty, and race, while showing power-sharing among opposed groups of elite whites vs. black race leaders. Eason situates the prison within the dynamic shifts rural economies are undergoing, and shows how racially diverse communities can achieve the siting and building of prisons in their rural ghetto. The result is a full understanding of the ways in which a prison economy takes shape and operates."

This book aims to provide readers with a comprehensive guide to the fundamentals of big data analytics and its applications in various industries and smart societies. What sets this book apart is its in-depth coverage of different aspects of big data analytics, including machine learning algorithms, spatial data analytics, and IoT-based smart systems for precision agriculture. The book also delves into the use of big data analytics in healthcare, energy management, and agricultural development, among others. The authors have used clear and concise language, along with relevant examples and case studies, to help readers understand the complex concepts involved in big data analytics. Key Features: Comprehensive coverage of the fundamentals of big data analytics In-depth discussion of different aspects of big data analytics, including machine learning algorithms, spatial data analytics, and IoT-based smart systems. Practical examples and case studies to help readers understand complex concepts. Coverage of the use of big data analytics in various industries, including healthcare, energy management, and agriculture Discussion of challenges and legal frameworks involved in big data analytics. Clear and concise language that is easy to understand. This book is a valuable resource for business owners, data analysts, students, and anyone interested in the field of big data analytics. It provides readers with the tools they need to leverage the power of big data and make informed decisions that can help their organizations succeed. Whether you are new to the field or an experienced practitioner, "Demystifying Big Data Analytics for Industries and Smart Societies" is must-read.

An approachable guide to being a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more inclusive place ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, Booklist • “A candid, accessible cheat sheet for anyone who wants to thoughtfully join the conversation . . . Emily makes the intimidating approachable and the complicated clear.”—Rebekah Taussig, author of Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body People with disabilities are the world’s largest minority, an estimated 15 percent of the global population. But many of us—disabled and nondisabled alike—don’t know how to act, what to say, or how to be an ally to the disability community. Demystifying Disability is a friendly handbook on the important disability issues you need to know about, including: • How to appropriately think, talk, and ask about disability • Recognizing and avoiding ableism (discrimination toward disabled people) • Practicing good disability etiquette • Ensuring accessibility becomes your standard practice, from everyday communication to planning special events • Appreciating disability history and identity • Identifying and speaking up about disability stereotypes in media Authored by celebrated disability rights advocate, speaker, and writer Emily Ladau, this practical, intersectional guide offers all readers a welcoming place to understand disability as part of the human experience. Praise for Demystifying Disability “Whether you have a disability, or you are non-disabled, Demystifying Disability is a MUST READ. Emily Ladau is a wise spirit who thinks deeply and writes exquisitely.”—Judy Heumann, international disability rights advocate and author of Being Heumann “Emily Ladau has done her homework, and Demystifying Disability is her candid, accessible cheat sheet for anyone who wants to thoughtfully join the conversation. A teacher who makes you forget you’re learning, Emily makes the intimidating approachable and the complicated clear. This book is a generous and needed gift.”—Rebekah Taussig, author of Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body

Demystifying Talent Management offers practical advice for all managers, HR professionals, senior leaders, and other employees on how to work together to build a talented and motivated workforce. The book addresses performance, development, coaching, feedback, compensation, and other elements of people management. Using simple, straightforward language, Kim Janson tells you how you can avoid confusion and conflicts when engaging in talent management. You'll learn: What performance is needed and expected: how to translate your company's strategy into individual performance; What it means to measure and track progress, simply and clearly; What you can and should do to help an individual's development; How to narrow your focus to improve a skill, knowledge, or experience; How to take both an individual's profile and the direction of the organization into account in career development and succession planning; How to make compensation (cash, public accolades, feedback, etc.) a true driver of results; How coaching and feedback are essential in bringing all the elements of talent management together. This book will guide you to a deeper understanding of the mechanics of talent management and development success so that all the stakeholders can come together in a win-win-win-win scenario.

Hospice care is available to patients and families dealing with terminal illness. People often do not avail themselves of hospice care because they don’t understand what it entails. Many wait until their last few days to request this extraordinary comfort care instead of using the full six months available to them through Medicare and other insurance options. Demystifying Hospice describes through stories good news about end-of-life issues. Written from the perspective of a licensed social worker with experience in public and private hospitals, hospice, and the American Cancer Society, these first-hand accounts of patients, family members, hospice workers and others will lift spirits, touch hearts, and illustrate the advantages of hospice care. These are real-life examples of personalized comfort care, offered by an interdisciplinary team, where ever the patient lives. Each story addresses some aspect of helping families through the caregiving and grieving process, which are part-and-parcel of a serious illness, and offers comfort and understanding to readers who may be going through similar experiences. This book describes hope, healing, and support through difficult times.

Demystifying Strategy provides you with not only the basic strategic tools and techniques but also a thorough understanding of the entire process of strategic thinking and management. Using tips, guidelines and exercises it helps you to assess your own strategic mind and covers key topics such as: the different perspectives on strategy, economic analysis, dynamic competitive positioning, designing and evaluating options, implementation, managing the strategy process and how to nurture your strategic mind. Aimed at executives, entrepreneurs and also students of management, it enables you to assess the teaching of strategy 'gurus', construct your own strategy audit and challenge thinking styles by assessing the cognitive processes involved in developing successful strategies.

This book explores how an audience of men serving sentences in an English prison responded to viewing five contemporary British prison films. It examines how media representations of prison vary in style and content, how film can influence public attitudes, and how this affects people in prison. The book explains the ways in which film acts as a power resource, presenting an ideological vision of criminal justice. The audience used these films to map the social terrain of prison, including issues of power and resistance; race and racism; corruption and the illicit economy; and staff-prisoner relationships, themes which are explored in the films screened. The authors argue that media consumption is one of the ways in which people in prison construct and maintain an ideal of the prisoner culture and what it is to be a ‘prisoner’. The book also reveals the ways in which audience members’ media choices and readings are part of the ongoing process of constructing their self-identity. This book illuminates the complex ways in which media consumption is an integral part of social power, cultural formation and identity construction. Recognising and engaging with audiencehood offers one potential route for supporting more progressive penal practice. This book speaks to those interested in prisons, crime, media and culture, and film studies.

Author Susan Susanska, "LIFE" magazine Architect of the Year, offers thoughtful guidelines for designing homes that more accurately reflect our lifestyles and personalities. 200 color photos. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

A law professor and former prosecutor reveals how inconsistent ideas about violence, enshrined in law, are at the root of the problems that plague our entire criminal justice system—from mass incarceration to police brutality. We take for granted that some crimes are violent and others aren’t. But how do we decide what counts as a violent act? David Alan Sklansky argues that legal notions about violence—its definition, causes, and moral significance—are functions of political choices, not eternal truths. And these choices are central to failures of our criminal justice system. The common distinction between violent and nonviolent acts, for example, played virtually no role in criminal law before the latter half of the twentieth century. Yet to this day, with more crimes than ever called “violent,” this distinction determines how we judge the seriousness of an offense, as well as the perpetrator’s debt and danger to society. Similarly, criminal law today treats violence as a pathology of individual character. But in other areas of law, including the procedural law that covers police conduct, the situational context of violence carries more weight. The result of these inconsistencies, and of society’s unique fear of violence since the 1960s, has been an application of law that reinforces inequities of race and class, undermining law’s legitimacy. A Pattern of Violence shows that novel legal philosophies of violence have motivated mass incarceration, blunted efforts to hold police accountable, constrained responses to sexual assault and domestic abuse, pushed juvenile offenders into adult prisons, encouraged toleration of prison violence, and limited responses to mass shootings. Reforming legal notions of violence is therefore an essential step toward justice.