Michael Esslinger

“The inmates at Alcatraz were typically very well read. The average inmate in the general population would read seventy-five to a hundred books a year, not including periodicals and magazines. The reading materials at Alcatraz were heavily censored, and the subjects of sex and crime were strictly forbidden.”
― Michael Esslinger, Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years

“Discipline in prisons is frequently confounded with punishment. Punishment or deprivations are sometimes necessary to hold some men in line, but the measures taken to instruct and train men are more important. Discipline is systematic training to secure submission to authority. The value of discipline is the respect it induces in individuals and the resultant good order of the group. When discussing the discipline for prisoners we should keep in mind the purpose of the prison. Alcatraz is reserved by the government for perplexing problem prisoners and organized on the basis of maximum security with every precaution taken to insure safekeeping of prisoners and to prevent the possibility of escape. Privileges are limited, supervision is strict, routine is exacting, discipline is firm, but there is no cruelty or undue harshness, and we insist upon decent regard for the humanities.”
― Michael Esslinger, Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years