NCJ Number
234545
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 91 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2011 Pages: 177-197
Date Published
June 2011
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article discusses Frank Tannenbaum's (1893-1969) view of American criminology.
Abstract
Frank Tannenbaum (1893-1969) is best known in criminology for his depiction of the dramatization of evil, an early forerunner of labeling theory which caught on in the 1960s. Less well known is the fact that Tannenbaum was a convict criminologist. In 1914, he served a year on Blackwell's Island (New York City) for labor disturbances involving a group of 200 unemployed and hungry men on the lower west side of Manhattan. At that time, Tannenbaum, who was only 21, was a fledgling member of the International Workers of the World (IWW). In 1922, Tannenbaum published Wall Shadows (Tannenbaum, 1922b) on his experiences with the American penal system. He served as the official reporter to the Wickersham Commission's study on Penal Institutions, Probation and Parole (Volume 9) in 1931. Two years later, he published a biography on prison reformer Thomas Mott Osborne, a former warden of Sing Sing prison. This article discusses the career of Frank Tannenbaum as an early American convict criminologist, focusing on his personal papers in the custody of the Butler Library at Columbia University. (Published Abstract)