Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing

Conover writes that “While everyone knows that prison can warp or distort the personalities of prisoners, few stop to consider how it can do the same thing to those who work inside” (107). What examples does Conover provide to explore the effects of vicarious trauma? How does Conover himself illustrate the effects of vicarious trauma?

In Sing Sing, suicide watch is known as “special watch.” When Conover is assigned to “special watch,” an inmate, Morales, who frequently is suicidal and self-harms, tells Conover that it is the pressure of prison that causes him to hurt himself (148). How do prisons perpetuate cycles of abuse and self-harm? What examples does Newjack present?

Newjack captures the male tendency to engage in masculinity when Conover states “most men, [when] meeting other men, instantly asked themselves: Could I beat him in a fight?” (247). How does the book demonstrate the function of masculinity in prison? To what degree does masculinity inform Conover’s ability to assimilate into his position as a correction officer at Sing Sing?