CONVICT CRIMINOLOGY IS AN EDITED BOOK THAT FEATURES SOME OF THE BEST KNOWN ACADEMIC SCHOLARS IN THE FIELD. I especially enjoyed the chapters written by the ex-convict professors. They are the real experts on crime and corrections. The reading is cutting edge, state-of-the art, a new paradigm in criminology. This book will blow the cob webs off the walls of the ivory tower. This is a new criminology!

RICHARDS AND ROSS EDIT A FASCINATING WORK ON THE LIVES AND OBSERVATIONS OF VARIOUS SCHOLARS WITH DIRECT EXPERIENCE IN THE PENAL SYSTEM. THIS EASILY DIGESTIBLE BOOK SERVES AS AN EXCELLENT REFERENCE WORK ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF CRIMINOLGY, AND IS RECOMMENDED BOTH GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. THE BOOK FEATURES 9 CHAPTERS BY EX-COVICTS THAT ARE NOW PROFESSORS OF SOCIOLOGY, CRIMINOLOGY, OR CRIMINAL JUSTICE.

There a lots of how to books out there but Behind Bars is something different. This book is assecessible to the general public and gives its readers, an inside perspective on prison. The language is clear and its points are made simply and directly. As an educator who has worked with "street kids," this book will be a useful tool at letting my students appreciate what it means to become ajudicated. Behind Bars is a "how to book" that you hope you will never need, or that your family or friends will ever need. But, on the other hand, maybe we do need to read this book so we get insight on this huge American industry. In order to be a well informed citizen I believe you should read this book.

Very good book.
I had to pinch myself many times to make sure was it I enjoying this book.
One can finish reading it in less than six hours.
Packed with useful information.
I find it extremely useful to impress my boss and fellow-colleagues.
This book is the output of author's 15 years' research on the topic.
I bought 10 copies so far, to send them to my managers and friends.
Long live Ross.

What a breath of fresh air! The X-Factor is loaded with new knowledge about managing and motivatiing. The book's subtitle says it all, "Getting Extraordinary Results From Ordinary People." Instead of providing armchair advice on how to succeed as a manager, The X-Factor delivers a proven forumla on the ultimate management issue: how to get people to perform at peak levels indefinitely.

The X-Factor is the most complete and practical management/leadership/motivation book ever written. It picks up where "In Search of Excellence" left off and is the perfect compliment for "Good to Great". This book is incredibly well researched and thought through -- the author leaves few, if any, stones unturned. At the same time, The X-Factor is a wonderfully compelling story and an easy read. Once you start this book, you literally can't put it down...IT'S THAT GOOD!

Melissa Stringham writes the following:
On July 18, 2001 I experienced an anaphylactic reaction to latex, which caused my body to go into a cardiac arrest. Being only 29 years old with a 2 year old and a 6 week old, my life was really in question. My whole life had changed, taking medications every day, not being able to do the things I love; I was slowly but surely falling apart. I couldn't eat very much. I was extremely anxious and very angry. I was walking on eggshells and waiting for everything to crack. I was shutting everyone out of my life because I didn't want anyone to worry about me. I put on a very happy face and everyone thought I was handling everything with amazing grace. That was a total lie. I needed help BADLY; I couldn't have gone many more months the way I was going. I didn't receive professional help until 7 months after my trauma. That is when I was introduced to Barry Richards personally and his book Sudden Trauma. He saved my life. I was given reading assignments and then we would discuss the book and the feelings I was having. For the first time I felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel. The book describes symptoms and feelings exactly like I was having. I learned so much from the stories of the other survivors in this book and the steps they have taken to get their lives back. Getting help at the right time is so important and can elevate so many unnecessary thoughts and feelings. I can't recommend this book enough to help people in dealing and overcoming life's obstacles. It truly is one of a kind...

The real-life accounts are extremely engaging and interesting. I read the whole book in one day! Most people will experience some kind of trauma during their lifetime. Everyone needs to read this book so they can know what do when trauma suddenly and unexpectedly hits their lives.

This book is amazing, it literally opens thw world of sudden trauma to the reader. To say I was moved by the book would be an understatement. Kudos to the author, Dr. Woolley.

I got the book from Amazon.com and it was indeed true to the editorial write up. However I must add that this is a book strictly for the avid freshwater sting ray aquarist. A problem with freshwater stingray is their many "morphs" within the same species and this book has a really comprehensive pictorial of the many "morphs" within the same species. Now I can identify the thirteen freshwater stingrays in my care with certainty. Note that this is not a book on care nor setup of aquariums for frewater rays. It is more a identification and writeup of the characteristics of the many freshwater rays. Strictly for the advanced aquarists specializing in freshwater rays only and hence fully worth the price and the 6 weeks wait I had.

While still new to caring for freshwater rays, a friend loaned me a copy of this book, and it quickly became my bible! With many color photos and illustrations, including a dissection photo, this book is a great reference tool for identifying and sexing rays. For those looking to keep rays as pets, the book covers the basic requirements for keeping rays, including tank size, subsrate, and water conditions. The book is also full of helpful words from the author's own experience of keeping freshwater rays, and can help you avoid common problems, diseases, etc. For those who do not plan to keep rays as pets, this book is worth a look simply for its wealth of information on one of the less known types of freshwater aquatic life. An interesting, informative, and essential book for any aquarist!

Until Dr. Ross started publishing there was a serious shortage of information available for owners of freshwater stingrays. This book is great! It covers everything from the full grown size of South American rays to care of a ray and care of yourself if you get stung by your ray.

This book also helps dispel the myth that all rays are hard to care for. With clear, concise instructions on what a ray needs to thrive, this book should be the second that any ray enthusiast buys ("Freshwater Stingrays : Everything About Purchase, Care, Feeding, and Aquarium Design" by Ross is the first).

Buy these books BEFORE you buy a ray, if possible. Some rays get fairly big and it's good to know what you are getting yourself into.

This book was very educational and helped me with my pet stingray.

The title of this book says it all. Freshwater stingrays need more care and attention than most other freshwater fishes. This book covers the precautions regarding usage of heaters (esp. submersible), pH, diet, disease, etc. and watch out for their stings (spines), breeding, etc. It's a good collection in a small book. Some readers may find information that are easily found in other beginner fish books like filtration, etc, but all information are well-presented. I have been searching information for freshwater rays and compare with the info in this book, there are some things that I had not known or realize before, for example, regarding the sensitivity of the china rays and also regarding selection---avoid rays showing "death curl" and undernourishment.... which is the first step in starting the hobby.

Anyone thinking of keeping freshwater stingrays should read this book first as these fishes needs much care and attention and also to avoid making expensive mistakes.

Finally, a book that addresses one of the most interesting of the freshwater aquarium fish. Richard Ross obviously loves the ray. I wish I had this book when I got my first stingray, I would have known what I was in for. Covering everything from the many types of rays and the imprecise naming system to the proper way to administer antibiotics, this book gives you the information that you just don't get at your local fish store. Stingrays aren't goldfish, they take lots of care, but they can make a great addition to your large aquarium. And talk about a conversation starter! This is a must read for anyone looking for something a little more interesting in the tank.

Photography gathers many unusual images of perspective and still life: changes in light change image results substantially. Enjoy Gathering Light, a superb collection of full-page photographic images which illustrate this point, with texts by Dave Hickey and Eduardo Cadava accenting some startling photos.

Mr. Ross wields the camera like Shakespeare wielded the plume, gathering images more beautiful than the white cliffs of Dover at dawn. In passing from page to page, Ross takes you on a journey from the bayou to Burma and everywhere in between, focusing in on places Indiana Jones would have thought too difficult to reach. And all through the mind's eye of a true gatherer of light. I felt like Kim Basinger looking at slides in "Nine and a Half Weeks." Arousing to say the least.

Behind the Bars is a criminal justice survival manual for the innocently naïve and felonious savvy alike. As Ross and Richards point out, it is just as easy for law-abiding John/Jane Q. average citizen to unwittingly be ensnared in the complex system of criminal justice, as practicing felons. Behind the Bars contains practical advice on how to survive the legal and correctional system. This book is a quick read that will have you running the gambit of emotions from lighthearted humor, to incredulous disbelief, to horrific shock. Above all, the book serves to remind us how vulnerable we are to systematic governmental victimization.

Behind the Bars begins by instructing the criminal justice system novice on the difference between constitutional rights in theory and constitutional rights in practice; the difference between misdemeanors and felonies; and breaks-down, for easy consumption, a convoluted system of incarceration (jails, state prison systems, and federal prison system).

Ross and Richards then take a realistic and humanistic approach to providing the "low down and dirty" on the prison experience. Most media sources, when discussing the prison experience, provide an austere or sensationalistic approach to explaining the prison experience, by regurgitating information provided by administrative resources and scholarly work based on distal information. Such resources may lead (and have led) the public in general, and criminal justice students in particular, to wrongly believe that prisons offer a wide array of personal amenities medical/vocational/educational services, and recreational facilities, making it appear that convicted felons are being treated to a taxpayer funded vacation in a modified version of a health spa. Ross and Richards provide the naked truth on the reality of the prison experience, and discuss in detail the difficulties of prison life for both prisoners and guards.

Based on personal experiences, Ross and Richards provide practical first-hand guidance that just might prevent the reader from being caught off-guard by the criminal justice system. As a criminologist and a participant in a prison ministry program, I found Behind the Bars to be insightful and disturbingly realistic, and would be a perfect ancillary text for academic courses on Corrections, Criminology and Introduction to the Criminal Justice System. Thanks to Ross and Richards we now know the rest of the story!

THERE ARE VERY FEW BOOKS WRITTEN WITH STYLE AND HUMOR THAT DISCUSS SURVIVING PRISON. BEHIND BARS IS A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR PERSONS CAUGHT UP IN THE "INCACERATION MACHINE." THIS IS THE BOOK EVERY CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER SHOULD GIVE THEIR CLIENTS. IT WILL HELP EASE THE PAIN AND REMIND THE VICTIMS OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM THAT, DESPITE THE WORSE THAT CAN HAPPEN, THEY WILL SURVIVE PRISON. I FOUND THE BOOK TO BE A FAST READ THAT PROVIDES ESSENTIAL INFORMATION KNOWN ONLY BY THOSE THAT HAVE SERVED PRISON TIME. I WILL BUY EXTRA COPIES FOR MY LUNATIC FRINGE FRIENDS.

Behind bars is a quick, easy, useful, and enjoyable read. Though this book is being used as a college text book, don't let that drive you away. This book is useful to everyone, not just criminology students. Richards and Ross give you the truth about our prison system, this book is written from their experiences dealing with the system. No one plans on going to prison, but you never know, it's better to be prepared than to get ...(pardon the pun). Read the book, trust me, you won't be able to put it down.

This book is a collection of theoretical summaries, reports, analyses, and strategies all quite useful to anyone interested in generating some thinking and action around change. The team of five writers (Peter Senge, Richard Ross, Bryan Smith, Charlotte Roberts, and Art Kleiner) provide some original work, but also serve as editors to a vast quantity of material drawn from practitioners, theorists, and writers in the field of organizational improvement. According to Senge, "great teams are learning organizations - groups of people who, over time, enhance their capacity to create what they truly desire to create." (p.18) This book is really about creating and building great teams. The learning organization develops its ability to reflect on, discuss, question, and change its current and past practices. To do this, people and groups in the organization need to meaningfully pursue the study and practice of the five disciplines - personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking.

The learning organization - Senge's vision for the productive, competitive, and efficient institutions of the future - is in a continuous state of change. Four fundamental questions continuously serve to check and guide a group's learning and improvement (see page 49): (1) Do you continuously test your experiences? ("Are you willing to examine and challenge your sacred cows - not just during crises, but in good times?") (2) Are you producing knowledge? ("Knowledge, in this case, means the capacity for effective action.") (3) Is knowledge shared? ("Is it accessible to all of the organization's members?") (4) Is the learning relevant? ("Is this learning aimed at the organization's core purpose?") If these questions represent the organization's compass, the five disciplines are its map.

Each of the five disciplines is explained, and elaborated in its own lengthy section of the book. In the section on "Systems Thinking" (a set of practices and perspectives, which views all aspects of life as inter-related and playing a role in some larger system), the authors build on the idea of feedback loops (reinforcing and balancing) and introduce five systems archetypes. They are: "fixes that backfire", "limits to growth", "shifting the burden", "tragedy of the commons", and "accidental adversaries". In the section on "Personal Mastery", the authors argue that learning starts with each person. For organizations to learn and improve, people within the organization (perhaps starting with its core leadership) must learn to reflect on and become aware of their own core beliefs and visions. In "Mental Models", the authors argue that learning organizations need to explore the assumptions and attitudes, which guide their institutional directions, practices, and strategies. Articles on scenario planning, the ladder of inference, the left-hand column, and balancing inquiry and advocacy offer practical strategies to investigate our personal mental models as well as those of others in the organization. In "Shared Vision", the authors make the case for the stakeholders of an organization to continually adapt their vision ("an image of a desired future"), values ("how we get to travel to where we want to go"), purpose ("what the organization is here to do"), and goals ("milestones we expect to reach before too long"). The section offers many strategies and perspectives on how to move an organization toward continuous reflection. In "Team Learning", the authors rely mostly on the work of William Isaacs and others, and make a case for educating organization members in the processes and skills of dialogue and skillful discussion.

This book is enlightening and informative. It has already found a place on my shelf for essential reference books.

Everyone who reads THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE comes away excited about the benefits of having a learning organization. Yet many get stuck in a rut as they try to implement what they learned in that superb book. THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELD BOOK helps fill in that lack of understanding with dozens of questions, examples and exercises. You'll have a ball with this, even if you only use a little part to focus on where you need help. A great related book for building a learning organization is THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION, which teaches a new thinking process that simplifies and speeds up learning for an organization. It also shows you where you need to get rid of old thinking that is holding you back. You should read and use both.

Bridging the gap between text and context, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook offers everyone a deep and refreshing look at what work can be and should be. The authors ground their stories, examples, exercises in five conceptual touchstones--personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking. And these disciplines accurately reveal three core tasks in leadership: looking at self, developing others, and seeing the larger picture in order to chart a meaningful course. Stories enliven the ideas while examples and exercises offer practical models to use in any organization. Generous side margins, different colored ink, and graphic icons are visual treats as well as immediate graphic guides. And the narrative references to related issues make reading the book more intuitive, more interesting.

In fact, these physical details model the whole point of the book--that learning is essential for sustainable growth, for organizational and personal development.

I'm quite convinced that, had he not been disabled by his illness, Ross David Burke would have made a hell of an artist/entertainer -- novels, songwriting, perhaps even comedy. Now, yes, I live with a psychotic disorder myself, and yes, this book illustrates disordered thought better than any other I've read, but that's not the point I wish to make. Underneath all the crazy confusion, there's a lot of wit and humor, as well as some stunning insights on human nature. His supporting characters come alive -- which is especially impressive, considering the isolating effect schizophrenia has on its sufferers. As self-absorbed as protagonist/narrator Sphere may be, friends like Uncle Cane Toad, and lost love Elysium, are unforgettable.

Me, I got my illness well under control, with modern medication long ago (if only Ross had had access to today's drugs!) When sanity gets a little dull, there's much stimulation to be had from the story of Sphere. The tragic ending is a hefty price to pay for the wild ride, but I pay it at least twice a year.

I dearly hope Ross would be comforted to know: His book is not only educational, but FUN! Rest in peace, Sphere!

A must read for family and friends of someone who has schizophrenia. Should be required reading for mental health professionals. And, as a survivor of schizophrenia, I would highly recommend it to fellow survivors. A masterpiece.

This is the truest depiction of schizophrenia i've ever come across. a must read if any of you have a schizophrenic friend that you're trying to understand. brutally truthful, amazingly accurate.