Newjack By Ted Conover - Book Report/Review Example

Newjack By Ted Conover When a journalist takes his work seriously, he will not mind going into the nitty gritty details of his work, whether it is in person or in disguise. Ted Conover might be deemed as a pioneer in this field since he went into the world of policemen without any disguise and still covered up for the actual mission that he was on. Through his book Newjack, Conover relates first hand experiences of his life as a corrective officer in the Sing Sing prison. The result of his adventure of enrolling and qualifying as a fully operational officer was indeed unique and proves two dictums. Firstly, Conover proves that where there is a will, there is a way. And secondly, his example through this book creation shows that whatever happens to a human being happens for a better cause. The author’s proposal of profiling a new recruit for journalistic purposes was first rejected, which prompted him to apply for the position himself and after a substantial wait of two years, he finally got a call from the defense offices. The Plan and its Outcome Ted Conover would not have been able to create a better picture than this if he was profiling a new recruit, as was his original plan. The book in itself is a masterpiece of emotions that are least expected from people in the military. This review will focus on the working personality of Conover, how he develops it, and how it is ideal for new recruits to follow his example in the context of protecting the inmates of Sing Sing people. Needless to say the whole book is filled with the undying spirit of journalism that prompted Conover to take up the training in the first place. As a result, readers find a sudden burst of energy and inquiry right from the first page of the book, which stays as it is, and grows deeper with every passing chapter, till the book ends. This gripping read that Conover has created comes from his tendency to observe and report facts as it is, and is as factual as it can get. Therefore, in addition to the genuine energy that the book shares, there is also a strong convincing tone in this book which proclaims that the incidents narrated are real and have affected the writer extremely. The reader experiences this fact as he progresses through the book. Basing on the factual depiction of his experiences, the reader for the first time experiences life in a training and a prison, that provides deep insights into the New York state’s administrative and judiciary system. The overall seriousness of the camps, the hundred different types of policing services, the bullies, the recruitment processes, he experience of food and shelter while at the camp and after selection, everything shake up the reader with their rawness. The credit of the author however lies in his treatment of the plot. He takes a non-fiction out of real life and gives it a philosophical and professional turn when he studies the details of professional life of correctional officers in these prisons. A majority of readers have found the ending of the book to be philosophically provoking. It makes you think as to whether the life that Conover has entered is professionally and ethically justified. Let us take a look at how he develops such thoughtful reflection all through and at the end of the book. The Training: Narrated in first person and with complete background research provided in suitable places, Newjack is the story of a new recruit who is selected for correctional officer training in New York, and is subsequently posted to the Sing Sing prison. Conover has spent eight months of training and service in the prison. He begins his book with the training camp where the first night is more of a description of what to expect and what he sees of his batchmates. From Chapter one, the mention of roughness at workplace, in lifestyle and in dealings with superiors is mentioned. Police socialization as it is called is the process of familiarizing and training the new recruits to working mannerisms of their superiors. This comes close in heels with the training period and Conover observes severe episodes of changes in personality amongst his friends and in himself, when going through these phases. While he watches in awe the authoritarianism, hostility and conservativism of his superiors, he is also surprised by the hostility, cynicism and racism seen amongst other recruits training alongside him. As a result, of this professional atmosphere, Conover learns that the main definition of a police man’s work ethics is outlined by these characteristics and attributes. Conover notices that all of his superiors have a very mechanical attitude towards the work and use hostility, suspicion and even cynicism to deliver at the workplace. According to Ted, their behavior and mannerisms remain a mystery to him till he is posted at the Sing Sing prison for service amongst the prisoners, and finds himself hating every day of his work. As a new recruit, Ted Conover, starts out by adopting a sympathetic tone towards his fellow batchmates as they go through contradictory phases of understanding their core duties and how they are delivered. In one point in the book, the recruits undergo training as jailers and they are told that acts like brandishing their licensed guns unnecessarily in public, or being found drunk with it on, are heavily punishable by the New York state law and this would lead to confiscating of license and gun from the accused (Conover, 2000, 33). Also, he is trained to understand that his role is to correct the prisoners and not punish or torture then. However, he later finds that the seniors who taunted them for any chances of misconduct were themselves involved in misconduct and violation of rules. While he continues to find answers to such contradictory training experiences, his posting at the prison reveals more chilling experiences, at the end of which he completely understands the reason behind the harshness and the cynicism in the training camp. At The Prison The Sing Sing prison was always known to be the model prison for law enforcers and has held a history of fair trial and conduct. However, by the time Conover is posted there, the situation far from fair. The prisoners are found to be more sane and obedient than the jailer or officers, who make it difficult for Ted to understand the difference between the violated and the violaters. In his stint as a correctional officer, he understands that most of the laws governing an officer are broken from time to time since in a situation wherein a person is trapped in a life imprisonment sentence for eight hours in a day, the only way he can find relief is by understanding people around him, who happen to be prisoners (Conover, 2000, 267). A strange rapport develops between prisoners and officers in such a scenario, and while Ted befriends a few of the prisoners he counsels or corrects, he finds them to be more helpful that his seniors or superiors who are supposed to help him understand his duties and guide him through difficult situations. Ted finds that while his psychology drifts between authoritative and trapped sentiments, he is also to face the fact that the once model prison has now turned into a hub of drugs, gang wars and sexual activities, none of which are allowed by the book of law (Conover, 2000, 250). Conover finds sudden revelations in history happen before him like witnessing the birth of electrocution and other punishing treatments. All these experiences, combined with the harshness of facts, the cynicism of friends, and the paradoxical settings, completes his narration of experiences in the prison. All the incidents are heart wrenching and show the soft side of police officers or COs (correctional officers) as they are called (Conover, 2000, 300). The sheer coldness of his surroundings affects his working personality so much so that even in denial he starts to behave in a mixed manner, wherein he is neither strict nor lenient, neither harsh nor understanding. In short, Conover elaborates through his book, the transformation every new recruit goes through, from being an idealistic patriot to being a semi-bully steeled by metallic conduct. While moral values and ethics take a back seat, Conover develops a working personality which he hopes to use as an example for readers of his book. Another important aspect of the book is the way in which he and his colleagues are deeply affected by the routine of affairs around them and the process in which they slowly turn into harsh people. Impact of the Book In Ted’s example, we find a totally different understanding of a police officer’s role in prison conduct. He shows that police officer attributes seen today need to be kept away from prisoners to avoid prisoners turning worse than their previous selves. And the degree of protection that these prisoners need from such a frustrated and paradoxical police officer when weighed on a scale from one to ten, goes to individual attributes like authoritativeness weighs at three, suspicion weighs at five, racism at seven, hostility at six, insecurity at nine, conservatism at eight and cynicism at ten. While we all know that such a working personality is not ideal for other police officers, this is the bare fact of today’s policing world as covered or rather uncovered by Ted Conover. Keeping all of the above points in mind, it can be safely said that inmates should be protected to the complementary degree of seven from a Sing Sing police officer’s working personality. Conclusion: In conclusion, the book Newjack offers a peek into personality transformation from a psychological perspective that happens in officers training and serving in New York prisons. It also indicates how the system must change to ensure a more humane approach towards training and service, to give officers and prisoners a better atmosphere at the prisons. Reference: Conover, T. (2000) Newjack:  A Year as a Prison Guard in New York's Most Infamous Maximum Security Jail, Random House: New York Read More