Browse Hierarchy CRIM6010: The Prison and Imprisonment

This module will provide students with an advanced introduction to the topic of prisons and imprisonment. It will situate the modern prison within a broader historical and global context, and explore this institution from the point of view of prisoners, prison staff and the wider community. Students will examine the historical evolution of the prison and reflect upon the 'punitive shift' in penal policy from the 'rehabilitative ideal' of the immediate post-war period, to the penal populism that now characterises so much prison debate. It will examine the governance and administration of the prison system before turning to the routines of everyday prison life, and how that prisoners confront and give meaning to those realities. The module will conclude with an overview of sentence progression for different categories of prisoner and considers how well the system prepares inmates for their life on release. Where possible this module is grounded in the local Oxford context and students will have the opportunity to interact with external speakers drawn prison staff, penal reform organisations, prisoners and their families.