Handbook

This course introduces students to the theoretical and policy-oriented considerations of how and why we punish criminal offending, particularly through the use of imprisonment. The course has an interdisciplinary approach to penology which draws on law, history, sociology, and criminology.

The course considers contemporary law and public policy issues, including juvenile detention, women in prison, the imprisonment of ethnic and racial minorities, inequality and imprisonment, privatisation, the use of torture, deaths in custody, the death penalty, and the impact of law and order policies on punishment. It also examines various theoretical contributions to our understanding of punishment including the work of Durkheim, Foucault, Weber, Marxist approaches, and contemporary writers like David Garland and John Pratt.