Talking Reform: Making and Unmaking a Life in Canada’s Prisons

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 he spiralled into a life of crime – arson, theft, and drug dealing – and at twenty-four he 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, this cycle breaks 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 his 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 – in his first-person memoir and his official prison record – and challenges the reader to focus less on his character and more on his narrative of reform. From this perspective, the reform story is a socially prescribed genre, one that compels those who have been convicted of crimes 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.