Crime Ladder/Criminal Television

The Christian Science Monitor used to publish a magazine for prisoners called The Atlantian.  It appears to have been written and edited completely by prisoners serving time in the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta.  Two items in the Spring 1960 issue are of interest.  To the left is a prisoner's rendering of the "ladder of crime."  It depicts the amount of status a prisoner has in the joint based on the crime he has committed (forged securities/bank robbery are at the top, sex crimes at the bottom).  It's an interesting portrait of just how much more whimsical criminals were in the early 1960s.  Note too that "white slavery" was still a recognizable term (at least in prison) as of 1960.

The piece below is a prisoner's musings on television.  Interesting here is just how completely internalized the "mass-elite" vast wasteland discourse was--even with guys in the slammer! 

(you should be able to download these for closer examination, if you so desire).