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Originally published in 1977, Albany: Birth of a Prison - End of an Era attempts to document and analyse some of the changes which happened in the first five and a half years of the prison’s opening and as far as possible account for them. Albany was planned and built as a medium-security establishment but the growth in the prison population meant it ended up, in part, as a maximum-security unit. At the time the prison was notorious, after a stormy series of incidents culminated in an alleged mass escape attempt and a riot, it had become known as the ‘jail of fear’ in which ‘mafia groups’ were said to ‘terrorize’ staff and prisoners alike. Despite the account inevitably being incomplete, it was hoped that lessons could be drawn, both for social research and social policy in regard to prisons.
Description: Informal portrait of Lieutenant Kenneth C. Elliott at a table, coffee cup and condiments in front of him. Location unknown.
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‘So far we have successfully avoided loss of life during serious disturbances but if the present trend continues there will be a serious loss of control... In such circumstances there is a probability of both staff and prisoners being killed.’ This dramatic warning, given by the prison governors to the Labour Home Secretary, Mr Merlyn Rees, stimulated the setting up of the May Committee in 1978. That Committee then reported and revealed how dangerously explosive the prison system had become. The time was exactly right therefore for a book like Prison Crisis, originally published in 1980, to draw together all of the issues to provide an agenda for public and politicians to use this best c...
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