Book Review: Food as a mechanism of control and resistance in jails and prisons: Diets of disrepute

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016818799824
• Date: 01 September 2020
• Published date: 01 September 2020
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Book Reviews
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should in fact strengthen the authors’ claims. The microview of the issue at large presented by such
personal insights may in fact be the relatively unknown detail needed to spark a larger discussion or
impact further research on reintegration for minorities, as the work is best suited for those pursuing
an academic understanding of this subject.
Murguı´a, S. (2018). Food as a mechanism of control and resistance in jails and prisons: Diets of disrepute. Lanham,
MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. 111 pp. $85.00, ISBN 978-1-4985-7308-5.
Reviewed by: Simone Martin, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA
DOI: 10.1177/0734016818799824
In Food as a Mechanism of Control and Resistance in Jails and Prisons: Diets of Disrepute,
Murguı´a analyzes qualitative data from interviews he conducted with former prisoners from across
the United States, as well as secondary data from scholarly journal articles, news articles, prison
memorandums, the Prisoner Information Handbook issued by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and
expose´s from notable journalists. Chapter 1, “Food as a Mechanism of Control,” introduces the book
and highlights lawsuits initiated by prisoners across the country who alleged poor treatment, long
bouts of solitary confinement, the use of painful force-feeding methods, and diet modifications that
were culturally insensitive; expressions of power by correctional administrators and staff against
inmates; and decreases in food budgets to jails and prisons to “rehabilitate” prisoners and save tax
dollars. The main tenet of Chapter 1, according to the author, is that food has been used as a
mechanism of control for years and the practice still takes place across the country. Additionally,
although correctional staff can use several resources to detain and punish prisoners, they still use
food as a method to control the incarcerated through food deprivation, serving limitations, and unfit
food options.
Chapter 2, “Quality Control,” focuses on the Dietary...