Power and Pain in the Modern Prison: The Society of Captives Revisited

Sykes’ The Society of Captives has stood as a classic of modern penology for nearly 60 years. However, the continued relevance of Sykes’ seminal publication often passes unremarked by many contemporary scholars working in the very field that such works helped to define. This book combines a series of timely reflections on authority, power and governance in modern prison institutions as well as a reflection on the enduring relevance of the work of Gresham Sykes. With chapters from many of the most influential scholars undertaking prison research today, the contributions discuss such matters as the pains of imprisonment, penal order, staff-prisoner relationships and the everyday world of the prison, drawing on and critiquing Sykes’s theories and insights, and placing them in their historic and contemporary context.