Realizing a Good Life
Men’s Pathways out of Drugs and Crime
- Publisher
- Fernwood Publishing
- Initial publish date
- Apr 2023
- Category
- Criminology, Indigenous Studies, Men's Studies
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781773635651
- Publish Date
- Apr 2023
- List Price
- $27.00
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781773636252
- Publish Date
- Apr 2023
- List Price
- $26.99
-
Downloadable audio file
- ISBN
- 9781773636818
- Publish Date
- Nov 2023
- List Price
- $26.99
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Description
Realizing a good life is almost always defined in material terms, typified by individuals (usually men) who have considerable wealth. But classed, gendered and racialized social supports enable the “self-made man.” Instead, this book turns to Indigenous knowledge about realizing a good life to explore how marginalized men endeavour to overcome systemic inequalities in their efforts to achieve wholeness, balance, connection, harmony and healing.
Twenty-three men, most of whom are Indigenous, share their stories of this journey. For most, the pathway started in challenging circumstances — intergenerational trauma, disrupted families and child welfare interventions, racism and bullying, and physical and sexual abuse. Most coped with the pain through drugging and drinking or joining a street gang, setting many on a trajectory to jail. Caught in the criminal justice net, realizing a good life was even more daunting as their identities and life chances became barriers.
Some of the men, however, have made great strides to realize a good life. They tell us how they got out of “the problem,” with insights on how to maintain sobriety, navigate systemic barriers, and forge connections and circles of support. Ultimately, it comes down to social supports — and caring. As one man put it, change happened when he “had to care for somebody else” in a way he wanted to be cared for.
About the author
Elizabeth Comack is a distinguished professor emerita in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Manitoba. Comack’s work in the sociology of law and feminist criminology has been instrumental in setting the course for Canadian scholarship. She is a member of the Manitoba Research Alliance, a consortium of academics and community partners engaged in research addressing poverty in Indigenous and inner-city communities. Comack is the author or editor of 13 books, including Coming Back to Jail: Women, Trauma, and Criminalization; “Indians Wear Red”: Colonialism, Resistance, and Aboriginal Street Gangs (co-authored with Laurie Deane, Larry Morrissette, and Jim Silver); and Racialized Policing: Aboriginal People’s Encounters with Police.
Excerpt: Realizing a Good Life: Men’s Pathways out of Drugs and Crime (by (author) Elizabeth Comack)
Other titles by
Coming Back to Jail
Women, Trauma, and Criminalization
“Indians Wear Red”
Colonialism, Resistance, and Aboriginal Street Gangs
Locating Law, 3rd Edition
“Race/Class/Gender/Sexuality Connections
Criminalizing Women, 2nd edition
Gender and (In)Justice in Neoliberal Times
Racialized Policing
Aboriginal People’s Encounters with the Police
Women in Trouble
Connecting Women’s Law Violation to their Histories of Abuse