SCY2181

Sociology of prisons

Barry Ellem

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First and second semester
* Caulfield
* Prerequisites: First-year SCY sequence or equivalent

Objectives Students in this subject can expect to develop an understanding of the historical development of the prison system; the role of the authorities in the prison system; the remand situation, and the resocialisation process of a sentenced prisoner; the issues of institutionalisation, deterrence and rehabilitation; therapeutic communities in prison; and penal reform, alternatives and the privatisation of prisons.

Synopsis Historical development of punishment and penal institutions. Remand, trial and imprisonment. The effects of isolation and deprivation, prison populations and social class, resocialisation and techniques of coping in a total institution, deterrence and rehabilitation, parole, release, recidivism, reform, alternatives, privatisation, unit management and specific therapeutic communities.

Assessment Essay (3000 words): 50%
* Exercise (1000 words): 20%
* Examination (2 hours): 30%

Recommended texts

Foucault M Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison Penguin, 1979
Johnson R Hard time: Understanding and reforming the prison 2nd edn, Wadsworth, 1996