Penal Systems is a comprehensive, thematic introduction to the comparative study of penality throughout the world. Using analysis of twelve different countries (the USA, England/Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Japan), Michael Cavadino and James Dignan offer a genuinely international and integrated approach to comparative penology. They draw upon material provided by a team of eminent penologists from all the countries surveyed to produce a work of theoretical depth and coherence. Penal Systems provides both an...

Penal Systems: A Comparative Approach is a comprehensive and original introduction to the comparative study of punishment.

Analyzing twelve countries, authors Michael Cavadino and James Dignan offer an integrated and theoretically rigorous approach to comparative penology. They draw upon material provided by a team of eminent penologists to produce an important and highly readable contribution to scholarship in this area.

Early chapters introduce the reader to comparative penology, set out the theoretical framework and consider whether there is currently a 'global penal crisis.' Each...