First published in 1989, Punishment examines the practice of punishment, not simply as a typical sanction employed by the state but as a pervasive feature of social organisation in both past and contemporary societies. With depth and rigour, they consider penal practice in a variety of historical and cultural contexts, such as the family, kinship and tribal groupings, small communities, educational institutions, the workplace and the commercial environment, criminal organisations, and the wider international community, as well as that of the state. In this way they widen the scope of the debate about the use of punishment as an instrument of human organisation, presenting different perspectives on the phenomenon of punishment and questioning the boundaries between different disciplines – juridical, philosophical, sociological, psychological and historical – within which the subject has been considered in the past. This book will be of interest to students and teachers of history, sociology, criminology, law, philosophy and psychology.
New Preface Preface A Note on Terminology 1. Themes and Analyses 2. Punishment, State, and Society 3. Conflicts and Tensions within the Penal Network 4. Lore and Doctrine: From A Reflexive to A Reflective Experience of Punishment 5. Punishment, Rule, and Social Organisation 6. The Purposes of Punishment 7. Similarities, Comparisons, and Contrasts 8. Punishment: Authorities and Agents 9. Punishment: The Subject 10. Methods of Punishment Notes Select Bibliography Name Index Subject Index
Christopher Harding and Richard W. Ireland
