Killer Looks: The Forgotten History of Plastic Surgery in Prisons

The definitive story about the long-forgotten practice of providing free nose jobs, face-lifts, breast implants, and other physical alterations to prisoners, and the the idea that by remodeling the face you remake the man. From the 1920s up to the mid-1990s, half a million prison inmates across America, Canada, and the U.K willingly went under the knife, their tab picked up by the government. Entering the 1960s, a movement to scientifically quantify the long-term effect of such programs took hold. In 1967, a three-year cosmetic surgery program set on Rikers Island saw recidivism rates drop 36% for surgically altered offenders. The program, funded by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, was led by Dr. Michael Lewin, who ran a similar program at Sing-Sing prison in 1953. This book explores socioeconomic success, racial bias, and the prison industry complex to get to the heart of how societal approval creates self-worth.