Sabine Heinlein

In Among Murderers, Heinlein follows three convicted murders in the years immediately after their release. The blurb describes it as:

What is it like for a convicted murderer who has spent decades behind bars to suddenly find himself released into a world he barely recognizes? What is it like to start over from nothing? To answer these questions Sabine Heinlein followed the everyday lives and emotional struggles of Angel Ramos and his friends Bruce and Adam - three men convicted of some of society's most heinous crimes - as they return to the free world.

However, this isn't only a book about the difficulties of reintegrating - like finding a job, finding a home, dating, and figuring out how to live in a world that has matured 30 years while you were locked away - it is mainly comprised of doing research into the murderers' backgrounds in order to give an adequate description of their crimes, who they were, who they have become, and what factors have influenced their lives. This gives the book a personal flavor - it encourages compassion and understanding for the three men and their troubles, without totally discouraging your caution in dealing with such men.

I'm going to soon be volunteering with people recently paroled, helping them to reintegrate and to reduce their chance of recidivism. I thought this book would be helpful and interesting. Although it spent a little less time focusing on current troubles of the three men, this book was incredibly helpful.… (more)

This book really grabbed me. I just intended to leaf through the pages but found myself unable to put it down, to coin a cliche, and read it straight through. Sabine Heinlein follows two years in the lives of three people who were convicted of murder, spent decades behind bars and just got released from prison into a world they no longer recognize. You get to see her subjects as human beings, not monsters, although she doesn't mince words about their crimes. She also talks a great deal about the "reentry" system (the programs for recently released prisoners) and its problems and the things it does right. I learned a lot from this book.… (more)