The Howard League for Penal Reform is committed to developing an effective penal system which ensures there are fewer victims of crime, has a diminished role for prison and creates a safer community for all. In this collection of ten papers the charity has brought together some of the most prominent academic experts in the field to map out the what is happening in a specific area of criminal justice policy ranging from prison privatisation to policing and the role of community sentences.

Preface, Anita Dockley, Introduction: Mapping the penal landscape, Ian Loader, 1. Social structural processes and the operation of the criminal justice system, Stephen Farrall, 2. Prisons and privatisation: Policy, practice and evaluation, Elaine Genders, 3. Policing in England and Wales: Challenges and pressure points, Mike Rowe, 4. Replacing the ASBO: An opportunity to stem the flow into the criminal justice system, Andrew Millie, 5. The influence of sentencing and the courts on the prison population, Nicola Padfield, 6. The Devil in the detail: Community sentences, probation and the market, Lol Burke and Fergus McNeill, 7. Mental disorder and imprisonment: Understanding an intractable problem?, Jill Peay, 8. Minority groups and the penal landscape: Challenges for research and policy, Neil Chakraborti and Coretta Phillips, 9. Raw deal: The curious expansion of penal control over women and girls, Lizzie Seal and Jo Phoenix,10. Children, young people and the contemporary penal landscape: Reflections, prospects, policy and research, Barry Goldson, About the Howard League for Penal Reform.

Anita Dockley is Research Director of the Howard League for Penal Reform. She joined the charity in 1991 as its penal policy officer after completing her academic studies at the London School of Economics. Anita has had many roles at the Howard League, including its Assistant Director with responsibility for policy development, press and parliamentary work. Anita has undertaken research and written on a number of subjects including self-harm and suicide in the penal system, mother and babies in prison, women lifers, and order and control in prisons. She is currently the managing editor of The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice and she is a member of the law sub panel in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework assessments.

Ian Loader is Professor and Director of Criminology at Oxford University. He is author or co-author of six books: Cautionary Tales (1994, Avebury, with S. Anderson, R. Kinsey and C. Smith), Youth, Policing and Democracy (1996, Palgrave), Crime and Social Change in Middle England (2000, Routledge, with E. Girling and R. Sparks), Policing and the Condition of England: Memory, Politics and Culture (2003, Oxford, with A. Mulcahy), Civilizing Security (2007, Cambridge, with N. Walker) and Public Criminology? (2010, Routledge, with R. Sparks). Ian is an editor of the British Journal of Criminology, Associate Editor of Theoretical Criminology and is on the editorial boards of Policing and Society, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, The Open Criminology Journal and International Political Sociology (IPS).