Andrew Coyle – författare

“Few people can talk about prisons with the authority and experience thatAndrew Coyle brings to his subject. A former prison governor, an academicauthor, an international activist and a practical reformer, Professor Coyleknows prisons inside and out, home and abroad, past and present. InUnderstanding Prisons he uses his impressive expertise to guide researchersthrough the changing world of the English prison. The result is an accessible,up-to-date, and highly informative book that will be welcomed by studentsand practitioners alike.”David Garland, NYU, author of The Culture of Control

“Andrew Coyle has drawn on his lifelong experience of governing prisons inScotland and England and, as the former Director of the International Centrefor Prison Studies, Kings College, London, studying prisons worldwide. Hehas written a comprehensive account of the use of imprisonment and thecharacter of prisons. He persuasively argues that our continued, extensiveuse of imprisonment cannot simply be explained or justified by the incidenceof crime and could otherwise. His book merits close attention.”Rod Morgan, Chairman, Youth Justice Board

There are over nine million men, women and children in prison around the world, and the number of people in prison in England and Wales has increased significantly in recent years. Yet in many respects prison remains the last secretive public institution in our society. Understanding Prisons provides a unique, in-depth examination of prisons – how they function, what they achieve, and their historical and political context. The book:

Describes how prisons developed into their present form Looks at who is sent to prison and what happens to them while they are thereExplains how the prison system and staff in England and Wales are organisedExamines how order and control is maintained and how high security prisons operateLooks at prisoners’ families and the wider communityOffers a future vision of the prison systemThis is essential reading for criminology and sociology students and researchers, criminal justice practitioners, the media and members of the public who are interested in learning more about the closed world of the prison.

How many people are imprisoned across the globe? What factors can help explain variations in the use of imprisonment in different countries? What ethical considerations should apply to the way imprisonment is used? Providing a comprehensive account of prison populations worldwide, this new work links prison statistics from the last 15 years with considerations of how prisons and prison populations are managed. With commentary from its well-known, respected authors on what is meant by an ethical approach to the use of imprisonment, and how this can be sustained in ever more challenging social, economic and political environments, this book is a major contribution to the knowledge of those currently debating prisons and the use of imprisonment, whether from academic, policy, practitioner, activist or lay perspectives. Its accessible, informative infographics also make it an engaging read and a valuable teaching resource for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in criminology, law, political science and public policy.

How do governments and societies use prison to respond to underlying and fundamental social, economic and political issues?Using data on world imprisonment and numerous international examples from his personal experience, Coyle, a prison practitioner, academic and international expert, discusses the failings of prison around the world.Acknowledging the influence of external agencies, such as the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and court interventions in the use of solitary confinement, he offers some positive pointers for the future and how there might be a better distribution of resources between criminal justice and social justice by an application of the principles of Justice Reinvestment.