Book Review: Race, education, and reintegrating formerly incarcerated citizens

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016818799396
• Published date: 01 September 2020
• Date: 01 September 2020
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

380
Criminal Justice Review 45(3)
Chaney, J. R., & Schwartz, J. (Eds.). (2017).
Race, education, and reintegrating formerly incarcerated citizens. London, England: Lexington Books. 214 pp.
$90 (hardcover), ISBN: 978-1-4985-4090-2.
Reviewed by: Lisa J. Beaulieu, San Jose´ State University, San Jose, CA, USA
DOI: 10.1177/0734016818799396
Utilizing the critical race theory (CRT) framework, Race, Education, and Reintegrating Formerly
Incarcerated Citizens is a compilation of work by a variety of contributors, who collectively
emphasize the long-standing intersectionality of race, education, and criminal justice occurring still
in the United States. Backed by empirical research and plenty of data, the overall message of this
work is clear: The educational and criminal justice systems in the United States have perpetuated the
systemic oppression of people of color, making reintegration out of incarceration and reentry into
education challenging, to say the least, if not near impossible. Readers are provided intimate details
of personal accounts of those affected by the systems and those who work closely with the formerly
incarcerated, in combination with critical accounts from experts in the field.
Part 1 of the book (Chapters 1–5) reviews the connection of this issue to the theoretical founda-
tion of CRT—that the persistence of such oppression is made possible largely due to institutional
racism—and analyzes postincarceration and education programming. What stands out in this section
is the complexities of the issues of mass incarceration and unequal education that are both unique to
the United States and thoroughly embedded in the American culture. This introductory section
inherently poses the question to the reader: If this is the American way, why then have we not
transitioned to something better that in fact encourages the equality we preach, that is just not
apparent in our policies? Part 2 (Chapters 6–10) describes the intricacies of reintegrating into
education...