This book challenges the myths and misrepresentations that justify the existence of prisons. It traces the history and failure of prison reform over two centuries, addresses a number of key, contemporary issues and argues for the abolition of prisons.It explores:The problem with liberal reformism.The myths around crime, the prison population and prison regimes.People in prison and the harms they experience.The relationship between prisons...

′Punishment and Prisons is a scholarly, powerful and inspirational critique. With passion and humanity, Joe Sim strips neo-liberal penal policies of their reformist pretensions and demonstrates that prisons will continue to be brutal enforcers of gross economic inequalities until such time as the abolitionist alternative is realised′ - Pat CarlenJoe Sim has long occupied a key position in British and European criminology. This book is a genuinely i...

′Following the outstanding introduction by the authors there are fifteen excellent original articles devoted to an integrated theory of the relationship between the state and crime. This work is on the cutting edge of critical criminology. It is a must read.′ - William J. Chambliss, Professor of Sociology, The George Washington University, USA.′This book is a superb compilation of original papers by an impressive roster of authors. While the articles cover a wide range of empirical...

This collection revisits Steven Box’s book, Power, Crime and Mystification, published in 1983, and considers its relevance forty years on. It introduces the critical analysis developed by Box which examined corporate crime, police crime, rape and sexual assault and female crime and analyses the continuities and discontinuities since 1983 in relation to crime, the state and the exercise/mystification of power. The book explores the ways in which we can see his influence nationally ...