Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Abandoned as an infant and victimized by his adoptive father, Mac began drinking heavily in his early teens. He left home at fifteen to work in the rugged and isolated logging camps of northern British Columbia, earning respect through hard work, heavy drinking, and violent confrontations with men twice his age. At eighteen Mac spiralled into a life of crime – arson, theft, and drug dealing – and at twenty-four was convicted of murder and sentenced to hard time. This only deepened his addictions and criminal connections, trapping him in a cycle of recidivism. On the surface, Mac’s life of crime concludes with a remarkable transformation: he battles for sobriety, turns away from crime, and becomes a revered guest lecturer at a university.
Talking Reform is a conversation between sociologist Dany Lacombe and Mac. Part memoir and part ethnography, the book critically explores how the prison culture, mental health professionals, and trauma narratives affected Mac’s journey. Lacombe argues that the redemptive arc of Mac’s story oversimplifies a more complex reality. She analyzes the setbacks and failures Mac experiences as he struggles to perform the reformed version of himself, developed in collaboration with prison staff and rehabilitation professionals. She also reflects on the problematic aspects of Mac’s story – both in his first-person memoir and his official prison record – and challenges the reader to focus less on Mac’s character and more on his narrative of reform. From this perspective, the reform story is a socially prescribed genre, one that compels ex-convicts to develop unrealistic stories about themselves. Off-script Mac formed strong relationships, made significant contributions to his communities, and found unexpected ways of making meaning of his life.
Exploring the complexity of managing identity inside and outside of prison walls, Talking Reform highlights ongoing struggles of reintegration and the importance of compassion and inclusion in offering hope for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons.
“Talking Reform is an exquisite dialogue between two very wise souls exploring the data of a lifetime. Utterly riveting from the start and a model for criminology’s future.” Shadd Maruna, University of Liverpool
“A lot of interest is building around lived experience of criminal justice. This book tells you why. A vivid combination of Mac’s prison life (and much more) with sophisticated theoretical analysis, it is an inspiring co-creation.” Rod Earle, Open University
“There are few volumes that detail a person’s lifetime of experiences with the Canadian criminal justice system. Talking Reform does an excellent job of giving voice to Mac and serves educational, scholarly, and humanizing functions in the process.” Kevin Haggerty, University of Alberta
"While Mac's story, on its own, is a worthwhile read, Lacombe's skilful hand is visible, both throughout the narrative and in the concluding chapters, when she dons her sociologist cap to make sense of Mac's life story. Mac's (sometimes exaggerated or colourful) version and Lacombe's (more clinical) perspective drawn from the official records provides the reader with insights into both the mind of Mac the convicted criminal and into the functioning of the Canadian prison system. Lacombe has successfully exceeded even her own sociological objectives in undertaking this collaboration project, almost as if the reader had been one of the fortunate students to attend Mac’s lectures and undertake Lacombe’s sociology classroom assignment." The British Columbia Review
“An extraordinary collaboration, this book weaves Mac’s autobiographical account with Lacombe’s probing questions, reflections, and critical analysis. Lacombe reveals and questions contradictions between the institutional portrait of a ‘habitual criminal’ and the good-natured, thoughtful, and funny man who shared his story with her and her students. Talking Reform offers an atypical but honest examination of crime causation, addiction, incarceration, and the elusive search for meaning beyond prison walls.” Jeffrey Ian Ross, University of Baltimore