Greg Ellifritz, whom we've met in these pages on several occasions, is one of the better-known instructors in personal security and avoidance of crime. I have a lot of respect for him, and I've learned a lot from his blog.
I was therefore delighted when yesterday, he listed my memoir of prison ministry, "Walls, Wire, Bars and Souls", as one of his "Best of What I Read- 2023" book recommendations.
Greg says of it:
I have several recommendations for academic textbooks to teach my students how to better understand criminals. Many people don’t like dry scientific research and won’t read those books. This one is great for providing an understanding of the criminal mindset as described by stories experienced by a prison chaplain.
I was particularly pleased to read the last sentence, as that's one of the objectives I set myself when writing it - to explain the criminal mindset to the average reader who's never had to deal with it themselves. There were other objectives, of course, but that was an important one. I'm glad Greg thinks I managed to get that point across.
Go read his other book recommendations for the past year. I plan to get hold of them over the next few months and read them.
Thanks, Greg!
Peter
7 comments:
A well deserved praise for a good book.
I have utmost respect for you, Peter and Greg.I have learned many lessons from both of you. Well done.
Congratulations!
TALL Praise, Padre.
What's amazing is that it's been ten years since I read it. No wonder the details are a bit sketchy now.
Well deserved!
Greg's list rightfully includes "Empire of the Summer Moon". The abduction of Quanah's mother as a child led to many searches and fights. It led to the novel "The Searchers" by LeMay which led to John Ford's movie "The Searchers", one of the most powerful White-Indian conflict movies made.
My father owned a blue-collar tavern in a large midwestern city. In brief stints tending bar and working as a laborer with men from the "rock pile" I learned there are a set of determined criminal minds and a set simply opportunistic. The latter may be deterred or, as you have tried, reformed. The first, never.
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