IMPRISONED BY OUR PRISONS What Needs to be Done

Paperback. The Fabian Series. Overcrowded, mismanaged, hidden from view and ignored - who do our prisons serve, and what are they for? Do they protect society from a dangerous criminal threat? Punish those who have gone astray? Re-educate those who have - for whatever reason - fallen foul of the law? Or are they an outmoded, ineffectual an unimaginative response to a variety of social problems? The author unlocks the prison doors and suggests new, more humane approaches to the problems 'inside'. She examines the concerns of the men and women who live and work within them, exposing the abuses of power, the denial of rights, and the humiliation and degradation that the system imposes. Arguing against prevalent calls for stiffer sentences, she explore the possibilities for reducing the use of custodial penalties and easing the tensions within our overpopulated prison buildings. She also demonstrates a variety of solutions from abroad that might easily be implemented here. Some would transform our prisons into infinitely more humane institutions, others are shown to have decidedly sinister implications. This challenging and far-sighted book will cause us to re-evaluate our responsibility for our prisons and for those we confine in them. With Index. 101pp. p/back. With signs of b/plate removal inside fr. cover, and lightly browned pp. o/w Vg+ with no creasing to covers.