Prisons of the World: A Better Way

How do governments and societies use prison to respond to underlying and fundamental social, economic and political issues?

Using data on world imprisonment and numerous international examples from his personal experience, Coyle, a prison practitioner, academic and international expert, discusses the failings of prison around the world.

Acknowledging the influence of external agencies, such as the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and court interventions in the use of solitary confinement, he offers some positive pointers for the future and how there might be a better distribution of resources between criminal justice and social justice by an application of the principles of Justice Reinvestment.

Professor Andrew Coyle CMG, is Emeritus Professor of Prison Studies, University of London, and was founding Director of the International Centre for Prison Studies in King’s College London. He previously worked at a senior level in the prison services of the United Kingdom. He has been a prisons adviser to a number of United Nations bodies as well as the Council of Europe and several national governments. His handbook A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management has been published in two editions and translated into 18 languages.