Doing Time: An Introduction to the Sociology of Imprisonment

Doing Time is an essential text for students in criminology and criminal justice – a one-stop overview of key debates in punishment and imprisonment. This edition, thoroughly revised and updated throughout, is a highly accessible guide, providing the tools to critically engage with today's central issues in penology and penal policy.

Examining imprisonment both historically and sociologically, and in international perspective, Doing Time outlines theoretical debates, and goes beyond standard introductory texts to help students develop their own critical and informed opinions.

This new edition includes:
• three new chapters
• an up-to-date bibliography
• fully revised statistical information
• a guide to key internet resources

Issues explored include:
• how incarceration became established as the foremost form of punishment
• the role of space, time and labor in the evolution of prisons and prison life
• why prison populations are rising despite the fall in crime figures
• an examination of key prison populations – juveniles, women and ethnic groups
• crime and the business cycle – links between crime, unemployment and imprisonment
• globalization and crime control
• the future of imprisonment