To an Antipodean, this book is at first a fascinating development of the New Zealand Prison System which includes the history of penology prior to the phenomenon coming to these shores. However, this book is not only a history: it is also an exploration of more complex managerial and social issues concerning crime and its treatment, including the interweaving of different penal policies that have brought us to where we are now. In this revised and enlarged edition, it draws on the reactions of many people imprisoned for reasons other than their criminality. By doing that it throws fresh light on the reactions of mankind in general to the loss of liberty. As a result, it raises psychological issues of isolation in all kinds of confinement, captivity, and deprivation that will appeal to everyone who is trying to grapple with the administrative, clinical, legal, and moral problems they create.
