Discourse Power and Justice

A distinctive and theoretically informed study of the administration of the Scottish prison system, based on extensive research and combining theoretical innovation with detailed empirical evidence.
"Discourse, Power and Justice" is a distinctive and theoretically informed, empirical study of the administration of the Scottish prison system. It is based on extensive research and combines theoretical innovation with detailed empirical evidence. The book is located at a confluence of two academic sub-disciplines and their associated literature, socio-legal studies of justice and the sociology of knowledge, which are combined to produce a novel theoretical framework. The authors focus on the activities of those who manage the prison system. They identify the most important social actors in the prison system, located both historically and comparatively, and examine their characteristic forms of discourse. A number of crucial areas of decision-making are analyzed in depth including decisions about the initial classification of prisoners, transfers around the system and the allocation of prisoners to different forms of work. A major focus of the book is on the different forms and mechanisms of accountability and the book concludes with an analysis of recent policy changes. Adler has published "Parential Choice and Educational Policy" (Ediburgh University Press, 1989) and "Justice Di