The Poet Resigns: Poetry in a Difficult World

What are we really wishing for when we want poetry to have the prominence it had in the past? Why do American poets overwhelmingly identify with the political left? How do poems communicate? Is there an essential link between formal experimentation and political radicalism? What happens when poetic outsiders become academic insiders? Just what makes a poem a poem? If a poet gives up on her art, what reasons could she find for coming back to poetry? These are the large questions animating the essays of The Poet Resigns: Poetry in a Difficult World, a book that sets out to survey not only the state of contemporary poetry, but the poet\u27s relationship to politics, society, and literary criticism. In addition to pursuing these topics, The Poet Resigns peers into the role of the critic and the manifesto, the nature of wit, the poetics of play, and the persistence of modernism, while providing detailed readings of poets as diverse as Harryette Mullen and Yvor Winters, George Oppen and Robert Pinsky, Pablo Neruda and C.S. Giscombe. Behind it all is a sense of poetry not just as an academic area of study, but as a lived experience and a way of understanding. Few books of poetry criticism show such range - yet the core questions remain clear: what is this thing we love and call \u27poetry,\u27 and what is its consequence in the world?https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/uapress_publications/1175/thumbnail.jp

Factors that contribute to success of probationers: Probation officers’ point of view

With such large numbers of individuals requiring supervision in the United States, it is essential to understand what contributes to the success of probationers. Probation officers work closest with probationers and develop a unique understanding of what contributes to a probationer\u27s success. The framework for this research is rooted in the idea that the officers experience conflicting goals of rehabilitation and law enforcement. Extensive interviews were conducted with probation officers in Federal and local probation to assess their views on the goals of probation, needs of probationers, and best practices. Hypotheses tested involve the importance of evidence-based practices, cognitive-behavioral therapies, and the use of risk and needs assessments. Findings indicate that officers downplay rehabilitation and successful practices in response to the conflicting goals that they face, such as ensuring public safety. In response to these findings, probation departments should focus on transferring what has been determined to contribute to success into everyday use of supervision