This book offers a fresh perspective on how individuals in prison navigate their lives, utilizing case studies from Africa, Europe, and the US. It examines the maintenance of order, exercise of power, daily routines, and the search for meaning within various incarceration environments, each discharging the same function in distinct ways. The analysis draws from a diverse array of sources, including photographs, drawings, court cases, official reports, memoirs, and site visits. The author contrasts the isolating conditions of a federal supermax facility in Colorado with the vibrant community life in an Ethiopian prison, where inmates cook, earn income, elect leaders, and adhere to a self-imposed code of conduct. He also delves into life in Northern Ireland's H Blocks, where politically motivated prisoners united in defiance against authorities. Additionally, he highlights how Texas inmates challenged a system that allowed violent supervisors, known as building tenders, to control them. Each case study features a life story of an inmate shaped by, and in turn shaping, the institution, ensuring that reflections on law, policy, theory, and practice remain deeply human. Ultimately, the narrative underscores that imprisonment is inherently tied to personal pain.
