Sykes' The Society of Captives has stood as a classic of modern penology for nearly 60 years. However, the continued relevance of Sykes' seminal publication often passes unremarked by many contemporary scholars working in the very field that such works helped to define. This book combines a
series of timely reflections on authority, power and governance in modern prison institutions as well as a reflection on the enduring relevance of the work of Gresham Sykes. With chapters from many of the most influential scholars undertaking prison research today, the contributions discuss
such matters as the pains of imprisonment, penal order, staff-prisoner relationships and the everyday world of the prison, drawing on and critiquing Sykes's theories and insights, and placing them in their historic and contemporary context.

A letter from Gresham Sykes
Introduction Ben Crewe, Andrew Goldsmith, and Mark Halsey
Situating Sykes
1. Sykes's prison in context: Change and continuity in the life span of a penitentiary, Craig Haney
2. Sykes' method in context: The place and practice of 'slow science', Mark Halsey
3. Sykes's problem of order in and out of context: Returning to the source in The Society of Captives, Richard Sparks
4. Lost in translation: The Norwegian reading of The Society of Captives, Thomas Ugelvik
The pains of imprisonment
5. 1. Beyond deprivations: The pains of imprisonment and the prisoner social system, Ben Crewe
6. 1. 'An iron fist in a silk glove': The pains of Halden prison, Yvonne Jewkes
7. 1. 'No country for old men': Changing prison demographics and the pains of imprisonment, John Pratt and Yoko Hosoi
8. "I'm in a federal prison, and I've never felt more free": The multi-faceted pains experienced by incarcerated Indigenous women in Canada, Sandra Bucerius, Luca Berardi, and Kevin Haggerty
Prisoner culture and society
9. The Society of 'Sex Offenders', Alice Ievins
10. Just don't wear prison issue!: Material deprivation, material machismo and the illicit prison economy, Kate Gooch
11. The real human: Reimagining the 'real man' in The Society of Captives, Jonathan Simon
12. Captives in society: The role of race in the carceral cycle, Rajeev Gundur and Daniel Kavish
Order and authority
13. The changing 'regime of the custodians': Visions of order and authority in high security prisons in England and Wales, 1988-2018, Alison Liebling
14. Sykes' 'corruption of authority' and the sociology of prison corruption, Andrew Goldsmith
15. Dynamic security or corruption of authority? Normalization and prisoner- staff relations in Danish prisons", Peter Scharff-Smith
16. Conclusion, Mark Halsey, Andrew Goldsmith, and Ben Crewe