L8914 Prisons, Power and Punishment Module Handbook | University of Strathclyde

Overview and Welcome

"Nineteenth-century prisons look like dilapidated castles, 20th-century prisons look like broken down leisure centres, and 21st-century prisons look like Amazon storage warehouses.” (Carl Cattermole, Prison: A Survival Guide) 

Module Outline  

This module Prisons, Power and Punishment will introduce you to the sociology of punishment as a sub-discipline of criminology, and also debates surrounding the uses, effects and practices of imprisonment in contemporary society. The module is structured in three parts, around three key questions: Who do we punish?; where do we punish?; and how do we punish? 
Part one considers this question of who is punished through contemporary criminal justice practices. To this end, it principally explores questions of inequality on the basis of class, gender, race and ethnicity, age, disability and other potential vulnerabilities. Part two critically examines the conceptualization of the prison as a total institution, exploring the impact of imprisonment on families and communities, and also the experiences of prison staff. Finally part three looks at questions of power and resistance, both at an individual and societal level, including the debates surrounding penal abolition.  

Learning Objectives 

The module is offered at SCQF Level 11 and has the following learning objectives:

• Demonstrate a critical understanding of contemporary issues relating to prisons and punishment. 
•  Critically assess the links between punishment and multiple forms of inequality.  
•  Evaluate different theoretical perspectives relating to the sociology of imprisonment and power relationships within prison.
• Develop and awareness of the links between prisons and communities, and the implications of these for people who are not the intended subjects of punishment.  
• Critically evaluate theories and accounts of how power relations are challenged, disrupted or subverted.
• Demonstrate an understanding of prisons and punishment as practices and institutions which are culturally situated and shaped by the societies around them, and to be able to critically engage in debates surrounding the future of prisons and punishment.  

Transferable Skills  

In addition to the learning outcomes the module also supports you to develop a range of transferrable skills that focus on broader cognitive abilities, non-subject specific skills and graduate attributes. In relation to these skills, the transferable learning outcomes from the module include:

1. Skills in debate and argumentation 
2. Critical thinking and self reflexivity 
3. The ability to synthesise and connect central themes from contemporary research on prisons and punishment, and to make links with sociological and criminological theories of punishment  
4. The skills to ask critical questions of dominant political and policy discourses around punishment  
5. The ability to undertake self-directed research and independent scholarship to solve intellectual problems  
6. Competence and effectiveness in collaboration, groupwork and argumentation in addressing complex problems.   

Module Structure  

The programme is 9 sessions over 10 weeks. Each session is structured as a one-hour lecture, followed by a one-hour seminar. Both lectures and seminars will be delivered face-to-face. The timing and dates of each session are outlined in the table below.  
An outline of each session with prerequisite reading is given later in this Handbook. All session handouts will be available in advance on MyPlace whenever possible. Attendance is compulsory.

The module includes lectures that are designed to give students an overview and understanding of key debates surrounding prisons, power and punishment. The more conventional style seminars which take place following each lecture are intended to afford you the opportunities for more extended discussion with fellow students, and time to reflect on the issues covered in the lectures.

Sessions will be led by Dr Cara Jardine and Dr Gemma Flynn. Their role is to facilitate students’ engagement with issues covered in the first part of the lecture-style session and reading, and an expectation that students will lead the discussion in part two. Activities and required reading for the part two sessions are contained in this Handbook.

The module begins by considering the question of ‘who do we punish?’, where will consider the relationships between imprisonment, inequality and disadvantage by examining questions of social class, social harm and how imprisonment is experienced by more marginalised groups (sessions 1-4). The second key question we will examine in the module is where is the power of the prison felt? In these lectures (sessions 5-7) we will consider the links between prisons and the community, the impact of imprisonment on families, and the experiences of prison staff. The final section of the module (sessions 8-9) is principally concerned with issues of power and resistance. Here we will consider the properties of penal power, resistance and activism, and critically explore the movement of penal abolitionism.  

At Masters Level, these aims are achieved through independent study alongside a lecture programme and associated readings provided. 

Assessment  

Assessment for ‘L8914 Prisons, Power and Punishment’ has two distinct parts, the sum of which is equivalent to the demands of assessment commensurate with a 20-credit point award at Masters level. Students must pass both this and the first assessment. This first assessment is 30% of the marks. 

1. The first assignment requires you to write – and then present - a review of two articles (word limit 1500 words). Submission date: 22/10/2025. The task is outlined below:

• Each person in the class must select two articles to review for the class from each week. No two individuals can review the same two articles. 
• The selection of each article must be discussed in advance with the module lead and confirmed by the end of Week 2 (10/10/25).
• The articles must be related to the broad theme of the module.
• The purpose of the review is to provide a commentary on the articles. It is not a summary.  
• You can agree or disagree with the substance of the articles, and you should identify what you think is important about the articles or what you regard as the weakness of the articles.  
• You should clearly state your opinion of the articles and draw a conclusion on them.
• The purpose of the presentation is to familiarise your classmates with a broad range of other articles which are related to the module but which they may not have the opportunity to read.
• You are not permitted to write your second assignment (essay) pertaining to the theme covered in the article reviews. 

 2. A written assignment, maximum of 3,000 words. Submission date: 15/12/2025. The task is 
outlined below: 
The assignment will be drawn from the coursework covered in weeks 1-10. This is 70% of the marks. This is a more traditional academic piece, and you should include citations and references to support your arguments, as you would in any other academic essay.

ESSAY QUESTIONS 

Please select one essay to answer. 

1. “Prisons in their present form have existed only for a short time in the history of man. Throughout their history, however, prisons have, almost by definition, been places for incarceration for unrespected persons.” (Mathieson, 1965: 141).  To what extent is the sentiment that prisons are places which incarcerate unrespected people still relevant today?
   
   
2. Would our prisons look different if we focused on social harm rather than what we define as crime? In what ways?
    
3. Early prison sociologists tended view inside the prison as “where the action is”, and often focused on the experiences of men in prison. What can be learned from looking at the effects of penal power on other groups? Answer with regard to families affected by imprisonment OR prison staff.  
   
   
4. Are the “pains” of contemporary imprisonment different from when Sykes conducted his ethnography in the 1950s? In what ways?
   
   
5. Are the impacts and effects of imprisonment gendered? In what respects?  
   
   
6. Can imprisonment ever be positive? What should we make of this?