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The unprecedented increase in the size of the prison population has ensured that prisons have been in the forefront of political and criminological debate. There has been renewed interest in the aims and practices of prisons largely within a new social, political and economic context. This has to take into account new demands for "value for money", "privatization", and a new focus on operational standards in an increasingly performance driven culture. This book provides an introduction to prisons in the UK, offering a guide to the major themes in theory, policy and practice. The book addresses key issues of recent concern such as privatization in prison, suicide, and control problems. These topics are situated within a broad theoretical and explanatory framework, and again give rise to the "classic" questions regarding the aims and purposes of imprisonment and the relationship between stated policy and "what goes on" in prisons.