Punishment and Prisons is a scholarly, powerful and inspirational critique. With passion and humanity, Joe Sim strips neo-liberal penal policies of their reformist pretensions and demonstrates that prisons will continue to be brutal enforcers of gross economic inequalities until such time as the abolitionist alternative is realised' - Pat Carlen. Joe Sim has long occupied a key position in British and European criminology. This book is a genuinely important addition to the literature; it is controversial and will stimulate debate. Punishment and Prisons shows that critical criminology is alive.