Life After Death Row

SAUNDRA D. WESTERVELT is an associate professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She is the coeditor of Wrongly Convicted: Perspectives on Failed Justice (Rutgers University Press). KIMBERLY J. COOK is a professor and chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is the author of Divided Passions: Public Opinions on Abortion and the Death Penalty.

"This book provides a rich, detailed portrait of the lives of those who have been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in the United States. The authors skillfully conduct a journey inside the minds of exonerees, allowing readers to see the world from their unique perspectives." - C. Ronald Huff (University of California, Irvine) "When an innocent man walks off death row, we bask in the happiness that he and his supporters exude, but, as Westervelt and Cook movingly document in this outstanding scholarly treatise, exoneration never ends the despair that follows a wrongful death sentence." - Robert L. Warden (Northwestern University School of Law) "A wonderful research idea, wonderfully realized.  The persons we meet on these pages have suffered the cruelest fate imaginable, and we learn crucial lessons from them about human trauma and human resilience. A rich, thoughtful, important, compelling study."- Kai Erikson (Professor Emeritus of Sociology and American Studies, Yale University) "Westervelt and Cook have written a well-written, compelling, and detailed qualitative study of the afterlife of death row inmates who have been exonerated by the courts. This study demonstrates the authors' extensive and thorough work, which has paid off with an important study in criminology. Highly recommended."(Choice) "The nation's first systematic study of the experiences of death-row inmates who are cleared of wrongdoing."(News & Observer) "This book provides a rich, detailed portrait of the lives of those who have been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in the United States. The authors skillfully conduct a journey inside the minds of exonerees, allowing readers to see the world from their unique perspectives." - C. Ronald Huff (University of California, Irvine) "When an innocent man walks off death row, we bask in the happiness that he and his supporters exude, but, as Westervelt and Cook movingly document in this outstanding scholarly treatise, exoneration never ends the despair that follows a wrongful death sentence." - Robert L. Warden (Northwestern University School of Law) "A wonderful research idea, wonderfully realized.  The persons we meet on these pages have suffered the cruelest fate imaginable, and we learn crucial lessons from them about human trauma and human resilience. A rich, thoughtful, important, compelling study."- Kai Erikson (Professor Emeritus of Sociology and American Studies, Yale University) "Westervelt and Cook have written a well-written, compelling, and detailed qualitative study of the afterlife of death row inmates who have been exonerated by the courts. This study demonstrates the authors' extensive and thorough work, which has paid off with an important study in criminology. Highly recommended."(Choice) "The nation's first systematic study of the experiences of death-row inmates who are cleared of wrongdoing."(News & Observer)

• ContentsList of Tables and FiguresPrefacePart One1 Living the Aftermath of a Wrongful Conviction2 Researching the Innocent3 Introducing ExonereesPart Two4 Facing Practical Problems5 Managing Grief and Loss6 Rebuilding Relationships7 Negotiating Emotional TerrainPart Three8 Confronting Life on Death Row9 Coping with Life after Death Row10 Reclaiming InnocencePart 411 Searching for Reintegration and Restoration12 Moving ForwardEpilogueNotesReferencesIndex