Book Review: Eleven Days in Hell: The 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege at Huntsville, Texas

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016806292914
• Date: 01 September 2006
• Author: William M. DiMascio
• Published date: 01 September 2006
• Subject Matter: Articles

with the stress that correctional staff encounter, the value of using correctional program-

ming to address health problems such as substance use, the role of staff structure as an inte-

gral part of maintaining staff safety, the use of performance measures to validate officer safety

and wellness, and the value of ACA’s Certification Program in staff development. Concluding

this half of the book is a motivational keynote address by Emory Austin titled “They Shall

Rise up and Become Themselves.” In her address, she challenges individuals to “get out there

and stretch yourself and expand where you are and push the limits and do that one thing.”

A fairly dramatic shift in topic from the first half of the book, the articles in the second

half address the theme of “Our Principles: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” In the open-

ing general session keynote address, former New York Mayor Edward Koch highlights

many of the problems that offenders face as they return to the community. In his speech, he

also discusses a proposal that, under very strict guidelines, would allow many of the offend-

ers to regain some of the rights that they had lost as a result of being a convict. The fol-

lowing article by Vincent Holland summarizes some of the gang activity in Northeastern

Ohio that also reflects national influences. This is followed by the honorable Renee

Cardwell Hughes’s speech on how the death penalty reflects a failed system, one that the

judge perceives as being neither fair nor just. The following five articles range in topic from

prisoner release as a community safety opportunity, preparation of inmates for release into

the community, prevention and intervention as a successful alternative to incarceration, and

ethics as the foundational imperative for professional behavior to “Follow the Money:

Linking Dollars to Your Vision.” Although diverse, each of these five articles is well writ-

ten and provides information relevant to “our principles.” This section of the book con-

cludes with an interfaith prayer breakfast address by Harmon Wray from Nashville,

Tennessee. The speech presents various images of our criminal justice, comparing it with a

toxic waste dump, a medieval morality play, the military, and several others. He concludes

by suggesting that the ACA is in a position to influence the debate as to which image is

adopted and how criminal justice is perceived.

Although some of the articles are only loosely tied to the thematic focus, overall the col-

lection of articles includes several important take-away messages. As with previous ACA

proceedings, this book provides those in the field of corrections with a valuable resource

that illustrates the vital role that corrections plays in the health of our society and the prin-

ciples that guide the practice of effective corrections.

Kevin Knight

Texas Christian University, Fort Worth

Harper, W. T. (2004). Eleven Days in Hell: The 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege at Huntsville,

Texas. Denton: University of North Texas Press.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016806292914

One of the first things I learned about sports writing was that you have to make a hero.

You know: John Jones threw for two touchdowns as the Westminster Titans shut out the

Thiel Tomcats, 27-0, in Division III football. Former sports writer William T. Harper found

Book Reviews 269