Western European Penal Systems: A Critical Anatomy

"Strangely, very little is known about the changing nature of imprisonment throughout Western Europe and the different types of prison regimes, which operate in these countries. In a very welcome overview of those developments, Vincenzo Ruggiero, Mick Ryan and Joe Smith have brought together a number of European experts who provide an informed and accessible account of current developments." --Roger Matthews, Criminal Justice Matters "Full of provocative questions and vigorous argument: just right for stirring up sharper debate." --The Economist Review The first detailed study of a range of Western European penal systems, this volume offers a much-needed description of how prison systems and alternatives to custody are organized in eight different countries. Western European Penal Systems highlights several common trends in policy and strategy across Europe and also demonstrates that each of the eight countries has to an important extent its own culture of punishment that is constantly being reinterpreted and reworked. Each probing chapter provides readers with a critical anatomy and empirical overview of the full range of penal sanctions used as well as analysis of how these sanctions are implemented. Examining new and recent data, the contributors consider the mix of sentences, the nature of offenses, and the class, gender, and racial composition of the penal population. This unique text offers students and researchers in criminology as well as professionals in the administration of justice an enlightening comparative study of penal systems.