Kim L Ramsay

The Barbados Prison System Kim L Ramsay

This history of the Barbados penal system gives a wide overview of imprisonment from the days of slavery until currently. Barbados' history of prisons starts from the days of the slave cage in its capital, Bridgetown which stayed there for 200 years. It then moves to the Town Hall Gaol, and then to Glendairy Prisons in 1855. The bulk of the book covers life at Glendairy: executions, deaths and suicides, riots, escapes, life from the inmates' perspectives, prison culture, rehabilitation and reform and the vexing issue of recidivism. The first of its kind, it is an all encompassing book which is suitable for those interested in Barbadian history, the prison system and those in academia.